Padi floor price adjusted to RM1,500 to benefit consumers, farmers
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has decided to maintain the price of local white rice at RM2.60 per kilo but will adjust the padi floor price from RM1,300 to RM1,500 in a win-win for consumers and farmers.
The government, however, will absorb about RM150mil in production costs for six months to keep the current price of the staple.
A padi crop disaster fund will also be set up to assist farmers who lose crops due to natural disasters, said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
He announced this during the minister’s briefing on the padi subsidies issue in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
“Industry consultations revealed that local rice production costs are rising, and selling the local white rice at the government-set price of RM2.60 is challenging.
“Any price change affects all stakeholders, so the Madani government must proceed carefully but is committed to protecting everyone’s welfare, especially those vulnerable to cost increases,” said Mohamad.
He added that the padi floor price has been adjusted and will take effect from Feb 16.
The padi floor price is the minimum price which rice millers will buy from local farmers.
The price adjustment took into account factors such as rising labour costs and agricultural input expenses including fertilisers and pesticides.
“This move is expected to impact rice production costs and market prices. The new padi floor price was set after taking into account all parties involved – with the priority being farmers and consumers.
“The ministry is currently finalising negotiations with the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and the Finance Ministry to extend diesel subsidy eligibility under the Budi Madani Programme to service providers in the padi and rice industry,” he said.
Additionally, the government will maintain the price of local white rice at RM2.60 per kilo by absorbing about RM150mil in production costs for six months.
“This measure ensures the availability of around 24 million packets of 10kg rice in the market. The implementation details are being finalised and will be announced soon,” he added.
The country’s rice and padi industry involves 230,119 farmers.
Mohamad pointed out that during Budget 2025, the government has allocated RM2.6bil to farmers to ensure national food supply security.
“Of this RM2.6bil, RM1.38bil is for agricultural input subsidies, RM825mil for output subsidies and incentives while RM397mil is for other incentives and assistance, with an estimated subsidy of RM4,323.20 given to each farmer per hectare per season to ease the farmers’ burden and enhance production efficiency.”
He pointed out that the per- hectare subsidies include certified padi seeds at RM144.20, compound fertilisers at RM492, urea fertilisers at RM156 and ploughing wages at RM100.
“The government also provides additional subsidies for NPK fertiliser at RM360, pesticides at RM200 and, liming and wages at RM1,100,” he added.
Mohamad said farmers can receive a padi price subsidy of RM500 for each tonne of clean padi, adding RM1,771 to their income.
“In total, they get RM4,323.20 per hectare per season in subsidies to support quality yields and their well-being. Higher clean padi yields mean even greater seasonal income,” he noted.
On the padi crop disaster fund, Mohamad said the assistance to be provided would depend on the age of the crops and area destroyed, and capped at three hectares per season.
Mohamad also said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will visit Kedah on Feb 27 to launch a RM1bil agricultural irrigation and drainage project.
Hundreds of farmers held a protest to submit a memo to Anwar on Jan 27, calling for the padi floor price to be raised to RM1,800 and a relook at the Crop Seed Quality Bill.
