The Straits Times, Putrajaya :
Malaysia is looking to diversify into food crops, in the face of fluctuating commodity prices and Western countries’ hostility towards palm oil.
In an interview with The Straits Times, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub said there are plans to plant more food crops on agricultural land, including in oil palm plantations.
The move would help raise farmers’ income amid weak palm oil prices and criticism from the West that the industry contributes to widespread deforestation.
“We are not going to cut down all the trees,” Datuk Seri Salahuddin said of the new plan.
He explained that food crops would be planted in between existing crops and also on land with old palm trees, replacing the once-prized commodity.
The diversification plan has been agreed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which oversees national land development agency Felda. The agency has helped farmers cultivate cash crops since 1956.
The agriculture sector contributed 8 per cent, or RM96 billion (S$32 billion), to Malaysia’s gross domestic product in 2017. Almost half of this came from palm oil.
Malaysia is looking to diversify into food crops, in the face of fluctuating commodity prices and Western countries’ hostility towards palm oil.
In an interview with The Straits Times, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub said there are plans to plant more food crops on agricultural land, including in oil palm plantations.
The move would help raise farmers’ income amid weak palm oil prices and criticism from the West that the industry contributes to widespread deforestation.
“We are not going to cut down all the trees,” Datuk Seri Salahuddin said of the new plan.
He explained that food crops would be planted in between existing crops and also on land with old palm trees, replacing the once-prized commodity.
The diversification plan has been agreed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which oversees national land development agency Felda. The agency has helped farmers cultivate cash crops since 1956.
The agriculture sector contributed 8 per cent, or RM96 billion (S$32 billion), to Malaysia’s gross domestic product in 2017. Almost half of this came from palm oil.
