95% of padi farmers yet to sign up for protection plan

Selangor allocated RM8.9mil to compensate padi farmers for crop losses due to disease. — Filepic

ONLY 5% of the 7,407 padi farmers in Selangor have registered for the Agrofood Takaful Protection Scheme: Padi Crop Takaful Scheme (STTP) that provides assistance in the event of natural disasters.

State infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Izham Hashim said so far, only 330 padi farmers have signed up for the scheme.

He said Agrobank was in the process of disseminating information to farmers and relevant agencies to get them to open accounts and register for the STTP.

“The collection of farmers’ registration data from Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan (PPK) is ongoing.

“The STTP, launched on Sept 13, 2024 was to replace the Padi Crop Disaster Fund (TBTP).

“It provides protection against crop damage caused by natural disasters such as floods (up to RM3,000 per hectare per season) and pest infestation and crop diseases (up to RM1,500 per ha per season),” he said during the Selangor State Assembly sitting at Bangunan Dewan Negeri Selangor in Shah Alam.

Izham was replying to Sallehen Mukhyi (PAS-Sabak) who asked about the state government’s assistance for farmers who were affected by floods and faced losses.

“All disasters related to padi cultivation, such as floods and drought must be reported to the Integrated Agriculture Development Area (Iada) Barat Laut Selangor and Selangor Agriculture Development Department for investigation, review and verification before being approved by the state and federal disaster management committees.”

He added that compensation for damaged padi crop was subject to recommendations of the state government’s technical committee.

“Selangor government allocated RM8.9mil last year to alleviate farmers’ burden as a result of crop losses due to disease, at RM500 per ha (RM300 in cash and RM200 for padi seeds).

Sallehen also asked about the short-term and long-term strategies to minimise negative impact of floods.

For the short-term strategy, Izham said maintenance work was being carried out according to schedule before padi planting season begins.

“This includes ensuring pumps and drainage under the Drainage and Irrigation Department’s (DID) supervision are maintained,” he said.

“The maintenance of water control gates, such as drainage control gates, drainage end control gates and under-drainage culverts is also being carried out.”

For the long-term strategy, Izham said the state government, through DID, planned to carry out a study on drainage and irrigation at padi fields in Sabak Bernam.

“A proposal for this project will be submitted under the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13),” Izham added.