LUNDU, April 10 — Owners of idle or underused agricultural land should consider leasing their land to ensure their plots remain productive and continue contributing to the nation’s food supply, said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
He added that the initiative would optimise land use while reducing Malaysia’s reliance on food imports, and stressed that landowners need not to sell their property, but can rent it out to companies or entrepreneurs interested in developing the land.
“Typically, companies seeking to lease land require long-term arrangements of 10 years or more, as agriculture takes time from planting to yield,” he said after visiting the Tanjung Purun padi planting project site today.
Meanwhile, Mohamad noted that Malaysia, once among the world’s leading rubber exporters, is now importing the commodity due to declining domestic production.
He attributed this to the large number of plots owned by rubber smallholders that are no longer being cultivated.
“Among the main factors is a labour shortage, as younger generations migrate to urban areas, leaving plantations untended.
“In some cases, landowners are reluctant to lease their land for development because they view it as ancestral property, resulting in it remaining idle,” Mohamad said.
