NIBONG TEBAL, Oct 27 — The Penang government is hoping the Cabinet will approve a proposal paper so that the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) will be able to start the Agricultural Census 2024.

State Agrotechnology, Food Security and Cooperative Development Committee chairman Fahmi Zainol said this census is to collect detailed data and statistics in relation to the basic agricultural sector and further help the government to enact policies to ensure the country’s food security is guaranteed.

Additionally, the data has not been updated for a long time...the last time was in 2005, therefore the collection of the latest data is important especially as the issue of food security is seen as one of the most pressing issues today.

"When talking about the economy, the agriculture sector is often marginalised as we can see that the data (agriculture) has not been updated for the past 18 years,” he said.

"Therefore, it is time that they (DoSM) collect new data and statistics as these are important not only for the government to formulate policies but to ensure the country is not left behind in the agricultural revolution apart from helping the basic agricultural sector entrepreneurs,” he said.

Fahmi said this after officiating the Agricultural Statistics Seminar 2023 at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) engineering campus here today. Penang DoSM director Khairolnizam Hassan also attended the event.

A total of 300 individuals are participating in the seminar, with participants comprising those from agriculture agencies namely crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry and logging, agricultural operators and cooperatives.

Meanwhile, Khairolnizam said 10,000 respondents from various agricultural sectors in Penang will be involved in the census expected to be carried out next year from July to September.

Therefore, he hopes the Cabinet will give approval so that the census can be completed according to the proposed period with the cooperation of all parties involved. — Bernama