DAN 2.0, DSMN enhances food security, supply - MAFI

Deputy Agriculture and Food-Based Industry (MAFI) Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah said the government was committed to ensuring food security as could be seen through efforts to ensure adequate, safe, nutritious and affordable food supply in the country

Ahmad said among the strategies under the DSMN were expanding the use of technological in the food system, strengthening the availability of food security data and empowering food security-based research and development.

The ministry is confident that the strategy will be able to contribute to efforts towards strengthening the country's food security by ensuring the availability of safe food at affordable prices in the market and ensure the country's preparedness in facing the food security crisis, he added.

He said this in response to a question from Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (BN-Besut) on the government's strategy in ensuring food security is not affected, especially with the country still facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry II Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh said the government understood the country's situation which was still dependent on food imports and was taking proactive measures to reduce the country's import on food.

"The government is trying its best to increase the country's rice production through the Large -Scale Smart Padi programme using various implementation methods which technically has succeeded in increasing padi yield from 3.5 metric tonnes per hectare to seven metric tonnes per hectare," he said.

He was responding to a question from Nga Kor Ming (PH-Teluk Intan) who wanted to know proactive measures by the government to overcome shortage of local food supply, resulting in the country to depend on food imports, which amounted to more than RM51 billion a year.

Apart from that, Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi said the government had also set up the National Ruminant Board to ensure adequate supply of meat, cattle, buffalo and sheep in the country.