Modern agriculture practices will help ease hiking food prices in Malaysia, former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin said during the 29th Tunku Abdul Rahman Lecture on Wednesday.
According to The Star Online, Daim urged the government to stay true to its pledge of helping to lower food prices so Malaysian citizens will have better means to meet their daily food needs.
Daim argued that modernizing agriculture will play a key role in helping to reduce increasing food costs while also improving the living standards of Malaysian consumers.
"The signal is coming from the people and the government must not ignore this," Daim pointed out, adding that adopting modern agriculture practices will help push up incomes and will also improve the local economy.
Automation is one of the key aspects that the government should consider, Daim explained. He said adopting automation will lead to less labor, which also means fewer farm workers will be forced to take on jobs that could put their lives or jobs at risk.
Daim further explained that communications technology and information technology, when integrated with existing agriculture models, will help raise Malaysia's food safety and security data.
Finally, Daim noted that a modern agriculture setting will create more jobs along the way, especially for food tech experts, food group researchers, food segment analysts, and even drone manufacturing providers.
Daim also encouraged the government under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to establish a government unit that will address the issues presented in the agricultural sector's lack of advancement.
He said a specialized government agency that will manage the automation and tech issues that Malaysia's agriculture sector is faced with will help empower farmers and workers who want to reach higher standards of living.
Malaysia has long been viewed to have great potential in adopting modernized agriculture practices. Earlier this month, the Global Food Index 2018 report put the country on the 40th spot of nations in food security.
While bagging the 40th spot is a reasonably good achievement, industry analysts noted that Malaysia can actually do more to up its rankings and improve food security measures. The country still lacks reliable data in terms of assessing investment risks, they said.
Participants at the recently wrapped up Global AgriTech Summit 2019 recommended that Malaysia can adopting innovative solutions across the sector's supply chain and ensuring that there are enough funds for further research.
Furthermore, participants suggested that P2P investment in agro-food farming segments should be more transparent, with procedures set on simple terms so farmers and involved parties can enjoy the convenience of faster and better investment procedures.
