YOURSAY | Being the ‘rice bowl’ of the nation does not make you poor

YOURSAY | ‘Food is something which the world cannot do without.’

‘Nation's rice bowl’: Kedah MB says state 'instructed' to be poor

BOBBYO: Why lament about being an agricultural state? Today, agriculture, if properly planned, can bring in huge profits.

Besides paddy, the land can be developed for other crops. Look at the budget bill for the nation’s food imports. It is huge.

If only Kedah can concentrate on just 10 percent of it, it will bring in revenue amounting to billions.

How much rice are we importing? Concentrate on finding ways to double your paddy planting yield.

Concentrate on planting the various types of rice that we import. This is Kedah's best way forward to achieve success.

As for investments from local and foreign sources, they will keep away.

As long as PAS remains in this attitude of continuing to stop foreigners from celebrating their foreign cultural festivities.

Even local Malaysians will keep away when their festivities are ridiculed or told to be avoided by religious leaders.

So stop dreaming and first prove that you are an asset to the state, rather than, at the present moment, a liability.

OceanMasterII: The lack of food security poses a significant risk to humanity, including Malaysia, particularly in the face of climate change.

However, amidst this challenge lies a golden opportunity for Kedah state to emerge as a leader in the agricultural sector, namely vertical farming, given its inherent potential and resources.  

Yet, let's face the truth - it is far easier to point fingers and place blame on others than to embark on the complex journey a true leader would have done.

Max Fury: Why always a copycat? Just because some of the other states did well with their industries, you want to copy them.

If Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was clever, he would cash in on his farmers' skills and help them build the paddy industry.

Give them good seeds that they can harvest three to four times a year with a high yield.

Make Kedah the rice bowl of the country without the government having to import rice. Plant fruits like bananas and papayas.

The Philippines is doing so well in its agricultural industry. Now they are exporting bananas, avocadoes, papayas, and durians while Thailand is exporting mangoes, longans, and lychees, not to mention Vietnam as well.

You have land and people, so you use technology and new methods of farming.

Make exporting agriculture your source of income. A landscape of beautiful paddy fields will also draw tourists to Kedah.

You just need to think outside of the box. If you are a smart menteri besar, you won’t just be a follower.

Be a progressive leader with foresight and you will shine.

Cocomomo: Another incompetent leader lamenting and, as usual, blaming others.

Being the “rice bowl” of the nation should place Kedah in a more advantageous position in the nation.

Learn to work with knowledgeable technical persons (not half-asleep political and supposedly religious persons) to develop the state while maintaining its important rice bowl status.

Wake up, incompetent leaders. Racism and religious bigotry being used to support corruption will not get you forward but into continued poverty.

Work together to create a harmonious, prosperous nation for all, not a corruption-laden one benefitting a handful.

Coward: Nobody told him to be poor. He and his administration did not do anything tangible to improve industrialisation or paddy cultivation.

Just converting paddy fields to industrial lots will not get you industry. You need to make it attractive for people to invest there and work there.

The Kulim high-tech park is a good example. The land is there, cheaper and at better terms than Penang’s Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) or the Batu Kawan industrial estate.

To investors and potential employees, all three places are so close that they are practically speaking collocated, but Kulim is their least attractive.

Why? It's the difference in state government policy. Being a rice bowl is not the reason why Kedah is poor either.

As other commentators pointed out, you don’t need to go far. Look at Sekinchan. It’s not only the rice bowl of Selangor, with a very high yield and good income.

It's also a tourist attraction. Opportunities are there but it will take work, both by farmers and the state government.

I am sad to say that after more than two years in power, instead of discussing what achievements and plans for Kedah, all Sanusi can do is play the blame game.

His promise of increasing paddy yield is so lacking in detail that I don't think he knows what the real steps were taken or what it takes to achieve this.

drkam: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s eagerness to transform Malaysia into an industrial hub led to unfortunate consequences for the heavy industry sector.

Despite entering a similar industry as South Korea, Malaysia has fallen far behind in terms of progress.

Unfortunately, the current Kedah menteri besar seems poised to make the same mistake by pursuing a similar approach.

This entails converting agricultural lands into industrial facilities, which reflects a misallocation of priorities.  

It is widely acknowledged that while land covers a significant portion of the Earth's surface, not all of it is suitable for agricultural activities. Sanusi must remember that:  

1. Food shortages within the food supply chain for citizens.

2. Deforestation leads to the removal of beneficial plants, bacteria, and fungi that contribute to the nutrient supply in farmlands.  

3. Unemployment in the agricultural or agro-allied industries.  

4. Increased vulnerability to natural disasters, as trees play a crucial role in reducing wind speeds, controlling floods, and preventing erosion by firmly holding soil structures together.

AnginLintang: He's suggesting that paddy farmers should sell their land, knowing that these illiterate farmers will use up the money in no time and resort to selling kuih by the roadside and continue to live in poverty for the rest of their lives.

Oh yes, blame DAP and Pakatan Harapan so that PAS will continue to get these people’s votes.  Just get Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) or this fella's good friend, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, to make sure that the latest high technology is used to farm paddy.

Increase production at a lower cost and reduce manpower.  

I wonder why this person is bringing up such irrelevant stuff when there isn't enough food at this moment and inflation is a threat.  

Does he want to sabotage Malaysia?

FellowMalaysian: I remember Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was so immensely proud that his home state was known as the Rice Bowl of Malaysia.

Now Sanusi is trying hard to undo the image which he thinks is giving the state a bad rap.

There are already several large industrial areas in Sungai Petani, Kulim, and Alor Setar but lots are going for a song as there are few takers.

So to say there are rigid restrictions on land use by the federal government is disingenuous. State governments ought to be more savvy in attracting land developers.

Me: As if Kedah consists only of paddy fields and habitable land. In between, there are three times more areas of swamps and neglected land.

Why can’t this “syiok sendiri” temporary menteri besar just target those areas instead?

Beman: If he was a capable leader, he would have pivoted on Kedah's strength to develop it as an agricultural hub for the benefit of its people.

He just needs to look at Thailand to see how this can be done. Food is something that the world cannot do without.

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