Malaysia: Plan to reduce dependence on imported vegetables The country will no longer need to depend on imported fruits and vegetables to meet the demand for such products in three years time. Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the National Production Plan, which would be implemented soon, would help to gradually reduce dependencies on imported agricultural products. "The plan was important as a strategy to curb the increase in prices of such goods that could help reduce the peoples financial burden," he said Friday at a press conference held at the Kluang Modern Agriculture Project at the Kluang Animal Institute. He elaborated that increasing the production of vegetables and fruits were the priority of the plan aside from fishery and husbandry as they could be harvested within a few months. "We are importing 60% of fruits and vegetables to meet the demand for such goods and under the plan, we hope to be self-sufficient in three years time," he said. As for husbandry, he said the country is importing 80% of cattle and 92% of goat to meet demand. Muhyiddin said under the plan, the ministry would also look into some subsidies and incentive schemes to help reduce the burden of farmers, as they have to cope with the increase of production costs. "The prices of vegetable fertilisers went up 50%-60% within a year while the other fertilisers went up 65%-70%," he said, adding that the ministry also encouraged the people to plant fruits and vegetables in the garden to supplement the demand. He said it would take the ministry two to three weeks to finalise the details of the plan such as the types of vegetables to be planted and where they were going to obtain enough land for higher production. "The modern agriculture project here in Kluang was very successful as we harvested RM48.2mil in 2007," he said, commenting on the 9,000 acres of agriculture land bought by his ministry to be rented out to farmers. Among the farms developed within the land were dragon fruit, lime and jackfruit. It was the first of its kind in the country and the ministry hoped to expand the project to other states. "We hope to acquire land from state governments for the purpose," he said.