Concern about shortages of this everyday staple: “We don’t know what will happen because of climate change”

Officials in Malaysia are seeking support from neighbouring countries after concern that the nation’s production of rice may soon struggle to keep up with demand.

Rice is a staple food in Malaysia and throughout the region but production of the cheap foodstuff is very reliant on climate conditions. It’s thought that rising global temperatures are having a negative effect on rice crop yields and urban development has reduced the amount of available farmland.

“We have enough stock of rice for at least six months,” Malaysia’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Mohamad Sabu explained. “But we don’t know what will happen because of climate change, so food security is important.”

He continued: “Our paddy production was 71% before but now it is only 56%.”

In addition to the issues climate and land issues, the Malaysian economy has undergone rapid change in recent decades and many former rice farmers have left the industry in search of better-paying jobs. As such, Malaysia has become increasingly reliant on overseas imports and could soon face real problems.

Scientists search for new strains of rice

Malaysian publication Bernama reports that the nation consumes more than 2.7 million tons of rice annually and currently imports around 30% of that amount from Cambodia. There are other sources - like Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan - but Malaysia will need to increase total imports to satisfy the demand.

Sabu has insisted that Malaysia will “work with other countries in the region” to ensure food security, adding: “Cambodia has plenty of paddy farms and produces quality rice for exports... Perhaps, we could buy more in the future if needed.”

Alternatively, Malaysia could be one of the main beneficiaries of an effort to create rice strains that are resilient to extreme weather, hopefully insulating the food production industry from the worst consequences of climate change.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge are looking into ways to modify rice varieties for optimal production. Typically around 4,000 litres of water are needed to produce just 1 kilogram of rice, a major issue as water becomes an increasingly precious commodity.

This effort includes a mass preservation of varieties at the world’s largest rice gene bank, which includes a number of varieties that have particularly useful characteristics. The ‘scuba rice’ can withstand bouts of flooding, while Filipino farmers have found that Sahod Ulan is unusually drought-tolerant.

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