Fragrant rice overview: benefits and implications of local production

Based on the growing demand for specialty rice, existing policies on paddy and rice industries should be transformed to enable the allocation of growing specialty rice within granary as well as non-granary areas. MARDI has introduced four varieties of fragrant rice known as MRQ 50, MRQ 74, MRQ 76 and MARDI Wangi 88. The cost of production is the vital element that will support the acceptance of farmers to cultivate fragrant rice. Results showed that the total cost of paddy production for MARDI Wangi 88 with subsidies was RM4,335.00/ha, while the cost of non-subsidised production was at RM5,801.05/ ha and with the current price of RM1,500, farmers’ net income was at RM1,964/ ha and RM458.5/ha, respectively. The findings also showed that 87% of the farmers surveyed were willing to cultivate the fragrant rice in their rice fields. As for granary areas, 91% of them were willing to grow the fragrant rice and for the non-granary areas was a bit lower at 82%. Two most preferred varieties were MRQ 76 and MARDI Wangi 88, both at 40.4%. The results from consumers’ survey revealed that 78% of them were willing to change their daily intake from white rice to MARDI fragrant rice while 22% still preferred the white rice. As for MARDI’s fragrant rice, the most preferred variety was MRQ 76 (30%), followed by MRQ 74 (27%) and MARDI Wangi 88 (21%). These findings indicated a strong signal to further enhance the cultivation of fragrant rice in granary and non-granary areas. The analysis on the benefits and implications also stated that the value of benefits was higher with the terms and conditions applied. Hence, the government policies need to be strengthened on pursuing the growing of fragrant rice in Malaysia. The profit margin analysis should be as a guideline for the industries to estimate their profits and losses. Therefore, in facing future challenges, the subsidy structure and incentives for rice should be scrutinised by the government in order to become a competitive industry.