Can small rice mills solve local white rice shortage?

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Small Rice Mills Offer a Potential Solution to Local White Rice Shortage

The suggestion of providing matching grants for rice farmers to acquire small-scale rice mills presents a potential avenue to address the current shortage of local white rice. These grants would enable farmers to procure milling machines costing approximately RM5,000, allowing them to process their own harvest. Each machine is capable of producing 2.5 kilogrammes of quality rice per cycle, contributing to increased local availability.
Proposed Matching Grants for Farmer-Owned Mills
The Farmers’ Organisation Authority (FOA) has proposed a system of matching grants to facilitate farmers' ownership of small-scale rice milling machines. This initiative aims to empower farmers to manage their own rice production from planting to processing. The cost of each milling unit is estimated at around RM5,000, making it a feasible investment for individual farmers or small cooperatives with grant assistance.
Current Certified Rice Processing Capacity
The existing infrastructure for processing certified rice seeds is currently insufficient to meet national demand. There is only one certified rice mill located in Lahar Bubu, Penang, which processes approximately 5,000 metric tons of certified rice seeds annually. This capacity falls significantly short of the estimated annual requirement of 72,000 metric tons needed by the nation's 240,000 rice farmers.
Upcoming Processing Plants to Augment Capacity
In addition to the proposed small-scale mills, three certified rice milling plants are slated for full operational status. These facilities are situated in Kubur Panjang, Kedah; Simpang Lima, Parit Buntar; and Sungai Burung, Selangor. Their anticipated contribution is expected to play a role in alleviating the deficit in local white rice supply once they are fully functional.

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Can small rice mills solve local white rice shortage?

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