SMART SBB helps farmers increase rice yield - Ronald

SERDANG, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- The Large-Scale SMART Paddy Field (SMART SBB) programme, first introduced in February last year, has successfully helped paddy farmers increase their productivity, said Agriculture and Food Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.

He said that SMART SBB, which is a new direction for the country's rice and paddy industry, has been implemented in nine states, involving nearly 5,000 paddy farmers, with a cultivation area of more than 11,000 hectares.

“In terms of implementation performance, the programme, which involves 24 companies including government-linked companies (GLC), has been proven to increase the average yield of rice per hectare.

“For example, in Sekinchan, Selangor, a paddy cultivation area of over 100 hectares has managed to increase the average yield almost four times, from 2.5 metric tonnes per hectare to eight to 10 metric tonnes per hectare,” he said.

He said this when officiating the Laman Padi and the launch of the SBB SMART logo; Rice Information Management System (RIMS); Ladang'57 Beras Wangi HoReCa and the 3FR SOP Manual, in conjunction with the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro-tourism Exhibition (MAHA) 2022, at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), here today.

Ronald said that the success of the SMART SBB programme has also been manifested in new products by the leading companies involved, based on a special rice variety – Ladang'57 Beras Wangi HoReCa – produced by programme participants in Seberang Perak, Perak and Barat Laut, Selangor.

“Moving forward, today we also witnessed the exchange of SMART SBB memorandum of understanding (MoU) documents between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) and three companies, namely Syarikat Mastani Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Padi dan Beras Rakyat Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Qudsi Global Sdn Bhd.

“It is hoped that more companies will participate in this SMART SBB programme to achieve the goal targeted by the government, which is rice self-sufficiency level (SSL) to 75 per cent by 2025,” he said.

On the Rice Information Management System (RIMS) application that was launched today, he said that the application is a digital decision support system.

“It uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and sensor or satellite technology to provide real-time advice, forecast, and prescriptions for the rice cultivation industry,” he said.

He also said that the government, in line with the evolution that is taking place at the global and domestic levels, will continue to make positive changes for the development of the country's rice and paddy industry.

-- BERNAMA