PETALING JAYA: Whether it is drought or floods or a fluctuation between the two, the erratic weather has affected padi yields in the Kelantan and Kedah regions last year, according to the authorities there.
Over in Kedah, the rice bowl of Malaysia, floods were a major headache, whereas in Kelantan, droughts were more of a problem.
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As for the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada), its chairman Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh said floods in the region had affected output and the income of farmers.
“The total damage to crop due to the floods from September to October 2024 was 6,172.16ha and amounted to RM32.63mil.
“The government had given a total compensation of RM10.49mil to reduce the burden of 4,854 farmers through the Padi Crop Disaster Fund (TBTP),” he said.
The floods last November and December damaged an area covering 10,319.82ha, involving 6,413 farmers.
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Since Sept 13 last year, padi farmers have been covered under the Padi Crop Takaful Scheme (STTP), which is a form of protection for crops damaged by floods. The scheme has given out compensation totalling RM15.48mil.
“In 2024, there was no new incidence of drought that affected Mada padi yield,” said Ismail.
In 2023, a total of 3,276.4ha in the Mada region was damaged due to disaster with losses amounting to RM7.34mil. The following year, the numbers increased with the total area damaged by disaster almost doubling to 6,172.16ha and losses amounting to RM32.63mil.
The compensation given out in 2023 was RM3.28mil while a year later, the compensation amounted to RM10.49mil.
However, the average padi output increased to 5.1 tonnes per ha in 2024 from 4.9 tonnes per ha in 2023.
In Kelantan, there are two planting seasons – March to August and September to February. The Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (Kada) said there was a drastic drop in the padi yield, especially due to the inclement weather, specifically drought.
“During the first season, only 14,669ha or 55% of the total Kada padi fields of 26,664ha were planted. The average output was 3.722 per tonne per ha, making 38,219 tonnes in total yield,” it said.
Comparatively, in the second season of 2023, 95% of the fields or 25,226ha were planted and the padi output was 3.797 tonnes per ha, with a total yield of 95,794 tonnes.
“Therefore, the overall planting for 2024 over the two seasons covered 39,895ha. As for output, an average of 3.77ha was produced with a total yield amounting to 150,393 tonnes,” it added.
At the harvesting stage, a total of 901.85ha were damaged due to floods in the first season of 2024, affecting 463 farmers. In the second season, floods also damaged 263.95ha of farms, affecting 136 farmers.
