Reference Date: 27-November-2025

Planting of 2026 main season paddy crop ongoing

Planting of 2026 main season paddy crops is underway and is expected to finalize in December in Peninsular Malaysia, which accounts for the bulk of the output and where paddy crops are mostly produced under irrigation. Planting concluded last August in Sabah State and are expected to finalize by the end of November in Sarawak State. Despite below-average cumulative precipitation amounts and warmer-than-average temperatures between August and October 2025 across most of Peninsular Malaysia, vegetation conditions in the main paddy growing areas were generally favourable as of early November, supported by adequate supply of irrigation water. However, dry weather conditions negatively affected planting operations and early crop development in the rainfed areas located in southern Peninsular Malaysia and western Sarawak State. Weather forecasts point to high likelihood of below-average precipitation amounts also in November and December 2025 across most of Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak State, which could negatively affect late planting operations and yields of the 2026 main season crops, especially in rainfed areas.

Paddy output in 2025 estimated slightly below average

Aggregate paddy crop production in 2025 is estimated at a below-average level of 2.2 million tonnes, mainly due to heavy rains and floods in late 2024 which disrupted planting operations of the main season paddy crop, especially in Peninsular Malaysia. Aggregate maize crop production in 2025 is estimated at an average level of 65 000 tonnes.

Cereal import requirements forecast at above-average level in 2025/26

The country relies on imports to meet domestic needs of cereals, as local production covers only about one‑fourth of total national cereal consumption. For the 2025/26 marketing year (July/June), total cereal import requirements are forecast at 7.2 million tonnes, about 5 percent above the average. Imports of maize, which constitute the bulk of total imports, are forecast at 3.9 million tonnes, about 4 percent above the average, reflecting the sustained demand by the poultry industry. Imports of wheat are forecast at 1.9 million tonnes, about 8 percent above the average, driven by strong domestic demand for bread and bakery products, attributed to population growth and a year-on-year increase in arrivals of tourists. Imports of rice in the 2025 calendar year are forecast at 1.4 million tonnes.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This brief was prepared using the following data/tools:
FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance Sheet (CCBS) https://www.fao.org/giews/data-tools/en/ .

FAO/GIEWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Tool https://fpma.fao.org/ .

FAO/GIEWS Earth Observation for Crop Monitoring https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/ .

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) https://www.ipcinfo.org/ .