By Dr Ahmad Ibrahim
Agriculture was for years the main stay of the nation’s economy. It accounted for a big slice of the country’s development. Much of the nation’s infrastructure was built with money from agriculture then.
Many crops contributed to the nation’s coffers.
Many had no qualms working in agriculture. Coffee growing was big in the 50s. I still remember companies grinding coffee beans making good money.
But a serious disease halted the expansion. Now, thanks to the prolific growth of lifestyle coffee drinking, coffee demand has catapulted. As a result of the advancement in gene technology, coffee disease is now a thing of the past.
It is not wrong to say that genetic engineering has revolutionised agriculture. All those earlier concerns over GMOs are now proven unfounded. All the evidence over decades of commercial plantings say so.
A chat with the Genetic Society of Malaysia suggests we have yet to fully embrace the technology. Although we have been importing GM soybeans and corns for years now. Time to reconsider.
As the country shifted to industrialisation, agriculture played second fiddle in terms of GDP share. Notwithstanding, the sector remains critical to the economy.
This came to light as the concern over food security sent us that clear signal. Rice, our staple food, came up for much debate.
Why are we not producing more?
Why is our yield still lingering low despite all the new high yielding rice varieties through R&D?
Are rice farmers adequately compensated for their contributions? After much analysis by experts in the field, there appears much irregularities in the market place. Issues related to the illegal blending of local and imported rice surfaced.
Many agree the issue of poor planting materials needs urgent redress. But putting the necessary act to control the use of seeds proves controversial.
The government has initiated moves to compensate the rice farmers better. Politicising the issue has complicated matters. Whatever it is, agriculture remains a national issue needing attention.
Though the oil palm and rubber contributed most to the agricultural GDP, other crops are beginning to show promise. Durian has no doubt taken up much space in recent years.
The import by China is seen as potentially massive. And many have put in money in durian growing. But we have to be wary of a potential glut in the market. There should be more value addition efforts.
A recent encounter with Tan Sri Augustine Ong suggests that he is not just passionate about palm oil. He has a hand in anything to do with innovation.
Through his newly created platform ATAS, which stands for Association of Tropical Agricultural Science, he plans to motivate more discussion about agriculture.
On 20-22 February, ATAS is putting together an event to deliberate on the recent advances in cocoa, rice, coconut, poultry and aquaculture. The discourse will also touch on how emerging technologies including AI are impacting the sector.
This should stir up more interest in the science of agriculture. There is much to do and the potential can be rewarding. Take cocoa for example.
Apparently the price of cocoa has now jumped to reach high levels. Cocoa futures have reached their highest level in over seven months, propelled by concerns over production in West Africa, which could impact global supplies in the face of already low inventory levels.
The most-active cocoa contract experienced a surge, climbing as much as 5.4 per cent to $10,380 a ton, marking the highest point since April 29.
This rally is driven by challenging weather conditions in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the leading cocoa producers. According to a weather forecasting company, the lack of soil moisture and minimal rainfall are not conducive to supporting crop growth in the middle of the year.
This development has raised concerns among market participants about the potential tightening of cocoa supplies.
Unfortunately, there is not much cocoa grown in Malaysia. We used to grow more especially in Sabah. As the price soars, we are missing out on the opportunity.
It is always wise to diversify our agriculture. Initiatives like ATAS can help send such message to the policy makers. – BACALAHMALAYSIA.MY
- The writer is a professor at Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy, IISDS, UCSI University and Associate Fellow UAC, University Malaya
