KOTA BARU: Thousands of hectares of padi fields in the state under the Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (Kada) may not be producing the desired yield this year due to the hot weather.
Kada general manager Mohd Faizul Mustafa said 7,800ha out of 26,833ha of padi crops under it have been affected by the hot weather and drought in Kelantan.
He said among the affected areas were Pasir Puteh, Bachok, Pasir Mas, Kota Baru Utara and Kota Baru Selatan.
“The 2022 second padi planting season, which began in December last year and was harvested in April this year, was somewhat affected by the shift in the monsoon period. We found that 390 farmers were affected by this,” he told Bernama here yesterday.
He said this will affect the development of the padi crop, and if the situation worsens, the crop will be stunted and their leaf stalks will be empty.
He said the hot weather would also result in limited water resources, and the water supply to the fields would have to be distributed on a rotational basis.
“There would be a disruption to the growth of the padi crops and the farmers’ incomes would be affected,” he added.
Mohd Faizul also said Kada has taken several drastic measures to ensure farmers will not suffer bigger losses, including supplying mobile pumps to the affected areas, identifying locations with underground water sources to be discharged through tube wells, and supplying diesel fuel to pumps registered with Kada.
Kada will also use available irrigation facilities to supply water to padi fields to facilitate the flow of water to the fields.
