YOURSAY | “At best, it's contingency planning, not food security assurance.”

Growing vegetables part of layered strategy for food security, says Mat Sabu

Nostromo: Anyone who knows a little about basic agriculture can see how flawed Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu’s idea of growing vegetables at home is.

For urban farming to have any meaningful impact, you need scale and consistency.

Take a small backyard behind a terrace house. How many plants can you grow?

Assuming you succeed in growing vegetables, how long until harvest? After harvesting, how long does it take to regenerate?

A small home garden, if done properly, may only produce vegetables for household consumption every two to three months.

And what about the quality of the produce? Is it even consistent enough for consumption?

Let us assume you can plant at scale and generate sufficient produce. Where would these greens be stored?

Without adequate storage, the produce will spoil. Urban farming is complex. It is not as simple as “tanam sayur di belakang rumah” (plant vegetables in your backyard).

Yes, that is a good home gardening hobby. But are you the minister of household hobbies?

You are talking about national food security. Scale is key. Even if thousands of civil servants do this, it would not produce meaningful supply.

At best, each civil servant might have homegrown vegetables for dinner once every two or three months. Great, you saved RM6 every three months.

Mat Sabu cited countries such as Singapore that invest heavily in urban farming. But those are high-tech urban farms implemented at scale with technology and funding to support them.

Singapore’s urban farming initiatives – such as ComCrop and Cityponics – utilise indoor vertical systems and low-carbon hydroponic farming, backed by investments of hundreds of millions.

Whereas your idea is simply “pegawai kerajaan digalak untuk tanam sayur di rumah” (civil servants encouraged to grow vegetables at home).

Pink: Mat Sabu has never been particularly good at solving problems.

Our education system spends a great deal of time teaching problem-solving skills, yet this seems to be beyond his reach.

When we had a shortage of rice, he suggested that civil servants eat expensive imported rice so that poorer people could buy cheaper local rice.

When we faced an egg shortage, he imported small eggs from India.

And it is best not to mention his performance when he was the defence minister.

Now he is suggesting that people plant vegetables around their houses.

Growing vegetables is not as simple as throwing seeds into the ground. One needs to understand fertilisers, the balance between water and sunlight, soil pH levels and many other factors.

In my district, we also have to deal with monkeys and wild boars.

I worry that the next time there is a shortage of pork, Mat Sabu might tell us to rear pigs behind our houses.

Every country has its own competitive advantage.

Malaysia should leave the planting of chillies, dragon fruit, mangoes and pak choy to countries like Vietnam and Thailand, where fertile delta soils and long agricultural traditions give them an edge.

Instead, Malaysia should focus on sectors where it has stronger potential: advanced chip manufacturing, data centres, halal products, banking, logistics, medical tourism and education.

Exile: To dismiss such initiatives misses the broader social and environmental benefits they offer.

Growing vegetables at home or in small communal plots is more than just a way to reduce the household grocery bill. It restores a sense of agency and self-reliance in an era of rising living costs.

When people plant and nurture their own food, they experience firsthand the rewards of patience, care, and diligence – qualities that extend beyond the garden and into daily life.

This initiative also promotes healthier eating. Homegrown produce tends to be fresher and more nutritious, encouraging better dietary habits.

In addition, it fosters environmental awareness. Cultivating vegetables locally reduces dependence on transported goods, cuts food miles, and encourages sustainable practices.

Beyond individual benefits, there is also potential for community impact. Shared gardens can become hubs for knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and social cohesion.

What starts as a small household plot can ripple outward, inspiring schools, neighbourhoods and even local councils to adopt similar practices.

Critics who dismiss this programme as trivial fail to see its long-term value.

Encouraging civil servants to grow vegetables is about resilience, self-sufficiency and nurturing a culture of responsibility – a small step with meaningful social, economic and environmental returns.

In an age where helplessness can feel pervasive, planting a seed is both literal and symbolic.

Coward: @Exile, I have no problem with him encouraging people to grow their own vegetables. However, the way he delivered it was half-past-six and deserves ridicule.

Let us start with the reason. He is trying to reassure us that food is secure. Then he tells us to plant our own vegetables. That is not reassuring.

At best, one may see it as contingency planning. At worst, people may say he is lying and causing panic.

Second, not everyone has enough land to plant food to sustain their family.

If it is contingency planning, he, as the minister in charge, should source and make land available for this purpose. He did not.

It looks more like a flippant remark by a minister without careful thought about the consequences, the practicality of the proposal or a real plan to boost self-reliance.

This means while I may not ridicule someone who does it, if a minister suggests it without proper planning, he deserves criticism.

Koel: I suggest Mat Sabu walk into supermarkets in the Klang Valley and into wet markets on a weekly basis and take a good, hard look at how many food items are actually affordable, pesticide-free and locally sourced.

Even wet market fruit and vegetables come from neighbouring countries and countries halfway around the world.

How did this country, with its arable land, descend to such pathetic levels?

Instead, we are fed this spiel in the article: “The ministry is also strengthening programmes under permanent food production parks, permanent food production zones, aquaculture industrial zones, integrated agricultural development areas, and farmers’ organisations to increase domestic output.”

Read government reports. This is the usual nonsense that says very little.

Has the media seen these “production zones” or “aquaculture areas”? Much of it is probably still at the talking stage.

A lot of it is also probably mired in this country’s destructive racial politics. Nothing moves forward.

Meanwhile, people are suffering from food inflation.

With the energy crisis in the Middle East, this could deteriorate quickly unless the government puts urgent measures into action.

Mat Sabu, many Malaysians – including the M40 and the B40 – have no land to grow fruits and vegetables.

What immediate solutions are you offering them for healthy food options? Rice alone is not sufficient.

We are one of the countries with the worst cases of diabetes, partly from overconsumption of sugar, but also because of excess carbohydrates in rice.

What healthy, locally produced food have you ensured a regular supply of in wet markets?

Please remember you are not just a minister for wealthy, government-linked plantation companies.

Dr Suresh Kumar: I do not understand the logic of this minister and the government.

Farmers in Kanthan, Tambun, who cultivated the land for nearly 80 years, were forcefully evicted and their crops destroyed.

Similar cases have happened in Cameron Highlands, where small-time Indian farmers who had been growing vegetables for decades were evicted.

Now the government is asking people to grow their own vegetables. Where are they supposed to grow them?

How much can be grown in a housing estate with only a tiny open space? What about those living in high-rise buildings?

Is this method even sustainable? Not everyone has green fingers.

Instead of assisting and supporting smallholder farmers with financial aid and better infrastructure, modernising farming techniques and fostering sustainable practices, these rascals destroy crops and evict farmers by force.

Those like PSM activists who come to the farmers’ defence are also harassed and arrested.

This is the quality of ministers we have in this country.

RakyatBangkit2020: Malaysia is one of the world’s biggest palm oil producers, led by companies such as Sime Darby Plantation.

Palm oil exports generate billions of ringgit for the country.

Because the crop is profitable, a lot of agricultural land is used for palm oil plantations instead of food crops.

Malaysia also imports many food items such as rice, vegetables, fruits, beef and dairy products.

Rice imports mainly come from countries such as Thailand and Vietnam.

So even though Malaysia produces food, the country still relies heavily on imports for certain staples.

Another issue is that fewer young people want to become farmers. Many prefer careers in technology, services or urban-based jobs. As a result, the agricultural workforce is ageing.

Encouraging people to grow vegetables at home or in community gardens can increase awareness of food supply, supplement household food and improve resilience during supply disruptions.

It is not meant to replace large farms, but to add another layer of food security.

Neutral Point: This is the type of politician we have. Previously, there was a chief minister who asked people to plant padi on rooftops.

Then another minister suggested people drink swimming pool water. Another minister advised drinking warm water to treat Covid-19.

Yet another suggested that students fry rice at home instead of eating out. Now we can all see the quality of our ministers.

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