INTRODUCTION
Global demand for rice is increasing by the
years. This means that the world needs to
produce more rice than it does now, and
this is part of the agenda in food security
that has been addressed in the World Food
Summit 1996. However, in many areas with
high population density, highly productive
rice land has been lost to housing and
industrial development and/or to growing
of vegetables and other cash crops. Plus,
the possibility of increasing area for rice
cultivation is almost nil, and this is mainly
because arable land has been exhausted
in most Asian countries. Arable lands
are marked by good and fertile land for
agriculture production.
Rice is a staple food for Malaysians.
Therefore, the government of Malaysia
realizes that it needs to increase self-
sufficiency level (SSL) in rice production
from 73% to 86%. In order to increase
SSL, there are three possible alternatives:
1) expanding the rice cultivation area, 2)
increasing the yield per unit area, and/or
3) combination of alternatives 1 and 2. At
present condition, with scarcity of good and
fertile lands, minimal expansion in rice area
can be expected, coupled with slow increase
in rice yield. In reality, growth in rice
production is in contrast to demand. For that
reason, farmers need to increase their rice
production on land that is previously idle
and less fertile such as the acid sulphate soils
in Malaysia. These soils have low pH and
high Al content which can be detrimental for
crop production. Expanding rice-growing
areas in such a challenging area must be