Water crises, feared not only in Malaysia but globally as well with climate change, could threaten food security in the country, said the ministry's Padi and Rice Regulatory Division director-general Azman Mahmood.
This would not only help achieve optimal yields but also ensure food security and the fate of farmers whose subsistence hinged on agricultural activities, he added."Insufficient supply of water leads to diseases and weedy rice which cause farmers' yields to decline immediately. For a start, he said several states such as Kedah, Perak and Pahang could be selected as pilot project sites to implement the construction of groundwater storage systems because they had excess water that had to be released into the sea.
He said the infrastructure for the groundwater storage project could be implemented in stages using 20% of the RM1.53bil allocated by the government for subsidy assistance programmes and incentives to padi growers as an incentive to try new technologies in water management and control.