FELDA cannot help increase settlers’ income as there are those who do not want the agency to manage their land, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We suggested having one big estate, where each settler owns 10 acres of land. So, 1,000 acres mean 100 settlers.
“But this is not happening as some settlers choose to manage their land by themselves. This is inefficient, and they have insufficient capital.
“When the estates are managed individually, there are no economies of scale, and this has caused settlers’ income to be low,” said the prime minister after launching the Rural Development Plan in Putrajaya today.
As of July 2017, 17,679 of 112,000 Felda settlers self-managed their plantations. The figure fell to 7,000 as of January this year, after the agency encouraged settlers to let it help them manage their land by promising six new incentives.
Dr Mahathir said it is time for settlers to consider “combining” their land so that it can be professionally managed.
They should not focus on just one crop, but plant a mix of crops, he added.
“We need to combine the estates and grow different crops in order for the plantations to be run professionally. Settlers cannot do this individually. They need professional help.
“We want them to be self-sufficient so that they can own houses.”
He said the government will identify areas where small plantations can be combined and managed as a single estate.
“Take for example rubber estates. The big ones are only a third of the total area covered by smallholdings. But, the estates can produce more rubber than the smallholdings.
“This also includes padi and oil palm. We will try this in one area, so that it can serve as an example.”
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
Why do PM talk about felda? Felda is under menteri ekonomi right?so where is menteri ekonomi?what is he doing?
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