Help padi farmers grow crops five times in two years, govt told

 

Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Md Nor has called for federal government subsidies for padi farmers. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Md Nor has called for federal government intervention to help padi farmers, especially those in Kedah, to grow padi crops five times in two years.

He said bigger harvests would mean there would be no need for Malaysia to import rice, Berita Harian reported.

Sanusi said such federal assistance would help the country to cope with the global food supply shortage which is expected to last till 2025 and is contributing to a spike in food prices at all stages.

“Imported rice is expensive, therefore we need to prepare the (padi farming) infrastructure, and the federal government must provide subsidies to the padi farmers,” he said.

Sanusi’s call comes in the wake of the agriculture and food industries minister saying on May 19 that there is still a need to retain import permits for rice. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced a day earlier that import permits for food would be abolished.

Kedah is Malaysia’s rice bowl, supplying as much as 40% of the country’s needs.

Most farmers practice double-cropping (two harvests a year) and the Muda Agricultural Development Authority said the current gross yield is about 5.3 tonnes per hectare.

Padi production for the second harvest of the 2021 season should reach 553,631 tonnes, about 30% more than the 2020 season, the agency said in April. - FMT