SHAH ALAM, Dec 24 — Selangor recorded the highest proportion of marketable padi production in the country at 99.4 per cent, according to the 2024 Agricultural Census Report.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin revealed that Selangor produced 246,405 metric tonnes of padi annually, the second-highest output nationwide after Kedah, which recorded 789,444 metric tonnes.
However, Selangor sold 244,901 metric tonnes of padi, almost its entire output, while Kedah sold 636,415 metric tonnes, representing just 75.95 per cent.
“The padi sector contributed RM3.841 billion to the national economy, with Kedah being the highest contributor.
“Kedah is dominant, accounting for 46.1 per cent of the padi granary area and 44.5 per cent of padi production.
“However, Selangor recorded 99.4 per cent of the production sold to the market, the highest in the country,” he said when presenting the report online yesterday.
This is the fourth time the Statistics Department (DOSM) has presented the Agricultural Census Report, with the last one conducted in 2005.
Uzir said Malaysia produces 2.19 million metric tonnes of padi annually, with a total planting area of 497,414 hectares.
Of this total, he said Selangor accounts for 38,707 hectares, making it the fourth-largest state in the padi farming sector after Kedah, Perak and Kelantan.
“However, what is worrying is that more than 50 per cent of the padi farming sector nationwide is carried out by workers and elderly labourers aged 60 and above,” he said.
In August, the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry announced that Selangor would serve as the pilot for a study on five padi planting seasons in two years (5M2T) through a pilot project in Sawah Sempadan, Kuala Selangor.
The initiative is done following joint research between the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) and the North West Selangor Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) between 2015 and 2017, involving 214.9 hectares and 141 farmers.
