FOR people who grow up in a farmer’s family, having newly harvested rice put on table and sharing the new rice variety with friends and families is a very common practice.

Besides, people exchange seeds among themselves in order to share their own breed varieties or to save them for the next planting season.

Farmers take this as their own right to save, use, exchange or sell saved farm seeds.

It is a normal practice and a long tradition (probably since the beginning of human civilisation) within the farmers’ circle.

However, this practice might be gone or become illegal once the Plant Seed Quality Bill (Seed Bill) is passed and enforced in Malaysia.

Directly affects rice industry

Usually, when we talk about agriculture in Malaysia, the first thing that comes to most people’s mind is perhaps oil palm plantation.

The crop contributes the largest agricultural output in terms of economic value (revenue) in Malaysia and also accounts for more than 75% of cultivated land.

Therefore, the public might not be even aware about the new development on the Seed Bill that is going to be tabled soon in Parliament, let alone the significant socioeconomic impact.

Other than our nationwide oil palm crop, many farmers plant our nation’s staple food, rice too. In Malaysia, rice production is mainly concentrated in the northern region of the Peninsula.

The self-sufficiency rate of rice is about 70-75%. Rice plays a pivotal role in the whole nation’s food supply chain. The key farm input for the cultivation of paddy is its seed, therefore it definitely will be affected by the Seed Bill once it is enacted and the rules are implemented.

According to news about the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (Mafi), the Seed Bill would regulate seeds in many aspects such as processing, testing, sale, distribution, import and export, so as to ensure that the quality of seeds produced meets the requirement and standards set by the authorities.

In other words, the old traditional way of seed saving practice and skills owned by the farmer would become unlawful.

Since 2019, the ministry has been contemplating the introduction of the Seed Bill. Although Parliament has been temporarily suspended due to Covid-19 emergency rule, this bill reportedly will proceed to be tabled in the next Parliamentary sitting.

This means there is a high chance that this new bill would be passed if the MPs from both sides of the political divide and independents have unsuspecting views.

As it is, the rice industry is already one of the highly regulated agricultural industries. The government plays an important role in the industry, from supply restriction to subsidies of seeds, fertilisers as well as provision of agricultural technologies.

Furthermore, most of the farmers, especially those who work in the subsidised paddy farms, grow paddy varieties provided by the ministry.

Yet, since the 1970s the seed certification scheme has been run by the Department of Agricultural and Plant breeding led by Mardi, but the volume of produce and release of new paddy varieties are still lagging behind many other rice producing countries, with less than 50 varieties released.

In addition, the existing seed certification scheme already discourages the farmers from their own seed breeding. They are facing seed supply issues too.

If the Seed bill is passed and measures are implemented, this might add another burden to the farmers.

Farmers’ rights denied

Due to the nature of the highly regulated rice industry by the government, commercial farmers have little choice but to choose preferred varieties.

The right to participate in decision-making and the right to equitable access to the shared benefits (of new varieties) has also been denied since then.

The Seed Bill places the requirement that any seed from any plant species or variety that has commercial value must be regulated.

This indicates that not only the rice industry would be affected, other agricultural crops such as vegetables, flowers and fruit trees would also be bound by the measures outlined by this bill.

According to the media statement from the Malaysian Food Security and Sovereignty Forum, the tabling of this Seed Bill has a far-reaching impact beyond “seed quality” control and it denies the rights of farmers. It only lends support to commercial seed producers to dominate the market.

Furthermore, this proposed law would prohibit the practice of saving, exchanging, and sale of seeds by farmers, which has been a common and traditional practice for farmers in Malaysia for a long time.

For small farmers who sell seeds on a small scale at local markets, strict packaging and labelling conditions will deny them the right to sell and the right of buyers to buy their preferred seeds.

Regulated seeds cannot guarantee farm yield

We cannot deny that seed is important for farm yield, especially those with “high quality” ones. It is perhaps true that efforts to cultivate high performing varieties cannot be fully maximised if the seeds are of poor quality.

Those poor-quality seeds, for example, could be compromised with diseases, contributing towards lower farm yield. Therefore, it becomes one of the convenient reasons for the ministry to regulate seeds so as to ensure help to boost the farm yield.

However, what actually matters is that people working on agriculture face a number of daunting problems related to climate and weather conditions, pests and etc.

Another severe drawback is, the Seed Bill might encourage more monoculture plantations where the plant varieties introduced in the field will gradually have diminishing returns, harm the farmers’ traditional seed system as well as threaten biological diversity.

At the same time, due to the lower resistance of monoculture, the risk of weeds, pests and new diseases might become higher, hence leading to lower yield and returns.

Furthermore, due to limited varieties of seeds in the market, farmers are compelled to accept the choices of varieties provided by the limited “certified” seed companies and suppliers. This agricultural produce would, in turn, end up as food on the dining table.

In conclusion, the implementation of the measures introduced by Seed Bill will certainly affect the agricultural industry and the whole food supply chain in a negative way.

Eventually, all of us will have to pay the price. – April 19, 2021.

* Esther Sinirisan Chong is a member of Agora Society. She was born and raised in the Land Below the Wind. Her research interest lies in education and government policies, and the history and heritage of East Malaysia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.