THERE are some 117,000ha of idle land, which can be used for cultivation in the country, but procuring it for agricultural purposes is not easy, said Daim Zainuddin.

The former finance minister and former Council of Eminent Persons chairman said the estimated land available is about 400,000ha but some are not arable.

“But where you can do (agriculture) is about 117,000ha. That also they don’t want to give,” he said, referring to state governments in the country.

Land is a state matter and the federal government has no control over its utilisatision.

He said that he had written to state governments asking them to set aside plots to help those interested in venturing into agriculture.

“I said you set aside a plot of land. We don’t want freehold. We only want 30 years,” he said at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute today on “Poverty in Malaysia: Reality vs Perception” today.

Daim said he wants to make agriculture “sexy” again by making it a lucrative source of income.

“I am trying to make agriculture sexy through technology, sexy in the sense that you make money,” he said.

He said it is important to reduce food imports, which stood at a whopping RM51.28 billion, so that Malaysia can become self sufficient in food security and food safety

Daim also said he was against planting paddy when he was in office.

“When I was minister I said please don’t plant paddy because we have to subsidise it all the time. As long we subsidise paddy farmers will remain poor,” he added.

The former statesman said he had suggested planting sugar cane instead of paddy. – November 27, 2019.