Falling yield: A farmer plants rice seedlings on Oct. 10, 2023 at her paddy field in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. The Agriculture Ministry has projected a declining trend in rice production for the fourth quarter, from 2.34 million tonnes in September to 2.2 million tonnes in October, 1.65 million tonnes in November and 1.37 million tonnes in December. (Antara/Ahmad Subaidi)
ASEAN, a region that heavily depends on rice as a crucial staple food, has grappled with fluctuations in global rice prices over the past month with prices rising steeply due to climate disruptions such as floods, heat waves and other extreme weather conditions. All Rice Price Index of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reached 142.4 in August, marking a 31 percent increase from the previous year, driven by a global rice shortage and export restrictions imposed by India since July. In Malaysia, locally produced rice has become scarce. Local rice production can only meet 70 percent of domestic demand. Currently, many supermarkets and small grocery stores often have empty shelves because 5 and 10-kilogram bags of local rice are quickly snapped up by customers as soon as new stock arrives. This scarcity is attributed to the growing price disparity between locally produced ...
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