Farmers from Kampung Teluk Jamat protest peacefully over the latest adjustment of maximum ceiling price of rice seed . //PIC PROVIDED//
ALOR SETAR: Fixing the ceiling price of local white rice appears to have caused the unintended consequence of increasing prices of padi seeds by almost 30%, a predicament which leaves padi farmers stumped.
Farmers are now urging the government to review the price that millers pay them when they sell their freshly harvested rice to the mills, which currently stands at RM1,300 a tonne, up from RM1,200 previously.
They lament that the price of padi seeds which they need for replanting has shot up to RM40 from RM31 per 20kg sack, and RM45 from the previous RM35 at retail level per 20kg sack.
However, authorities want the farmers to stay the course because the rewards will be plentiful come harvesting season.
Padi farmer Wan Maharuddin Sulaiman, 66, who said he spoke for his contemporaries, said the increase in the price of rice seeds has eroded their takings.
“With the already high cost of living plus farming costs, the increase of padi seed prices has made our lives difficult,” he said yesterday.
Wan Maharuddin, a padi farmer of 20 years, said the increase of padi seed prices translates to a 40% increase in the cost for every kilo of rice grains harvested, a phenomenon that had affected some 3,000 farmers in Kedah’s Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) scheme.
Some 200 farmers from Kampung Teluk Jamat, near here, gathered peacefully yesterday to voice out their frustrations, waving placards and banners to make their displeasure known.
With them were Pertubuhan Persaudaraan Pesawah Malaysia exco member Abdul Rashid Yob, who described the new ceiling price at mills as a poor measure to alleviate the burden of padi farmers who are mostly in B40 families.
“When the Prime Minister announced the increase in price from RM1,200 to RM1,300 per tonne, the income of farmers will increase by 10sen for every kilo of rice sold to millers, translating into a 8.4% increase in income.
“However, on Friday, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu announced that the ceiling price of padi seeds at the retail level has also increased from RM35 to RM45 for every 20kg,” he said during a press conference after the gathering.
The latest move from the government that took effect yesterday came under the Verified Rice Seeds Incentive programme (IBPS).
He said this, combined with other increased costs in rent, machinery, pesticides and various other agricultural inputs, meant that the increased ceiling price of rice would not help to increase the farmers’ income.
Mohamad had said that increasing the price of padi seeds would encourage the use of high-quality and disease-resistant ones, while curbing the use of uncertified seeds.
Mada chairman Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh said the adjustment of the ceiling price was meant to help the farmers earn a better income.
As for the increase in the price of padi seeds, Dr Ismail said the price increase translates to about RM100 per hectare.
“On top of this, the subsidies farmers receive increase from RM360 to RM500.
“This means if a farmer harvests a tonne of rice, he can at least get a minimum of RM1,800,” he said, stressing that an increase in padi seed prices was a natural economic progression.
He said if farmers followed advice from Mada, they would see extra income (from increased yield).
“What we need now is for farmers to follow our methods and (crop management) schedule, and put in a bit more effort,” he said.
