KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Umno’s Pasri Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has called for the government to consider investing in technology to help increase rice paddy yields.

He said the government should look for alternatives such as automation to replace or reduce labour costs.

"The Finance Ministry should look into improving paddy fields that is suitable in this current technology-driven era.

"There is no need for manual labour because they can use machines, just like how drones are used.

"This will help increase rice production,” he said today when debating the Budget 2021 Bill in Parliament.

He urged the government to consider the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute’s (Mardi) research, which he said has won awards but was not implemented.

The former deputy minister of agriculture and agro-based industry said automation could reduce Malaysia’s dependence on foreign labour, adding that over 700,000 foreign workers were employed in the agriculture sector here.