KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 -- The Agriculture Department has uncovered a growing trend of elderly and inactive paddy farmers informally leasing their land to foreigners, prompting calls for tighter monitoring of such arrangements.

The practice was detected during random field inspections carried out after farmers and landowners received assistance from the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, New Straits Times reported today.

"The department has detected a trend where landowners, especially veterans or those no longer active in farming, rent out or lease their plots to foreigners informally.

"While this ensures that paddy fields continue to be cultivated, it requires close monitoring so it does not affect the industry's existing structure...