Aiming for good harvests: A tractor working on a padi field at Tikam Batu in Kedah. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Money, machinery and maintenance are the three Ms plaguing padi farmers, in addition to extreme weather conditions that have impeded yield.
They say it’s time for the government and relevant agencies to take proactive action to address these issues that hit rice production.
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Wan Maharuddin Sulaiman from Pokok Sena, Kedah, said even the planting season has “gone haywire” due to the volatile weather patterns.
Although the government has acknowledged the situation and announced assistance to farmers, there are still issues when it comes to implementation, he pointed out.
“Even Mada is not proactive enough to come down and see what are the problems faced by us padi farmers. For me, the main problem is infrastructure, where there are places with water canals that are not maintained.
“Sedimentation and overgrown grass are blocking the waterways. This is a sensitive matter, but when farmers meet the authorities, they tend to say it is a budget issue,” he claimed.
Then there is the problem of machinery, where only a small percentage of farmers are able to afford their own tractors.
Wan Maharuddin said farmers who do not own tractors will have to take turns to use those provided by tractor operators.
These farmers, he added, have to contend with the vehicles breaking down or requiring repairs.
ALSO READ: Padi yields affected by erratic weather
“This disrupts the padi-planting schedule provided by Mada.
“These are the serious issues that have been going on for a long time. The government has to do something about them,” he said.
Prices of pesticides, too, remain a major concern. There is no agency regulating the prices of pesticides. Even banned pesticides are being sold at an exorbitant rate,” said Wan Maharuddin.
To aggravate the problem, pests that were previously non-existent have started appearing due to the erratic weather, he said.
Malaysia Padi Farmers Brotherhood Association (PeSawah) chairman Abdul Rashid Yob said padi yield has dropped for four consecutive seasons due to the changes in weather.
“We need to have better coordination between the farmers and the government,” he said.
Abdul Rashid also said it is high time that the government looked at alternative padi crop varieties that will take less than 100 days for farmers to harvest.
“If we want to harvest five times within two years, we need a variety that takes 40 days,” he said, adding that other South-East Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have adopted this type of crop.
He noted that having crops that take less than 100 days to harvest will boost productivity and yield.
Abdul Rashid urged the government to look at ways to bring in such padi varieties from overseas if the crop is suitable for Malaysia and conduct research with the help of universities in this area.
He said despite the padi floor price being raised to RM1,500 per tonne, the cost incurred by farmers remains high, adding that this is also why PeSawah has called for the floor price to be increased to RM1,800.
