Dewan Rakyat: Malaysia can produce almost all food products currently

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 3): Malaysia is capable of producing almost all the basic foodstuffs it currently needs, the Dewan Rakyat was told today. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah said that based on the national food production rate the subsistence level for chicken and duck, chicken eggs and duck as well as fish was more than 90%. He said the country had reached a self-sufficiency level of more than 100% for local fruits and vegetables except for mangoes, coconuts, cabbage, chillies and ginger. "However, Malaysia still depends on imports for some other food items such as beef, rice and vegetables and fruits from temperate climates such as cabbage, onions, apples and oranges to meet domestic needs," he said. He was answering a question from Datuk Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Barisan Nasional-Jerantut) who wanted to know the capability of the country in ensuring the country's food supply would not be curtailed, to protect food security. Therefore, Ahmad said ...