SMART SBB: Income of padi farmers increased by up to 180 per cent - Ahmad Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 -- The income of farmers through the ‘SMART Sawah Berskala Besar’ (SMART SBB) large scale padi planting programme increased by up to 180 per cent as of December last year, exceeding the set target, says Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah.

He said 3,811 farmers had benefited from the programme involving ​​9,777.7 hectares of padi fields.

"It includes several places such as the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) in Northwest Selangor and Seberang Perak," he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

He was responding to a question from Khalid Abdul Samad (PH-Shah Alam) on the efforts that had been made by the ministry to reduce the country’s dependence on rice imports.

SMART SBB is a new initiative by the ministry aimed at increasing domestic padi yields through the involvement of the private sector in terms of capital investment, expertise and technological capabilities.

It also aims to increase the productivity of the country's padi and rice production, as well as the income of farmers.

The programme is targeting to increase the national average padi yield to 7.0 tonnes per hectare during the implementation of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) compared to the current average yield of around 3.5 to 4.3 tonnes per hectare to help the Subsistence Level (SSL) of national rice to reach 75 per cent by 2025, or before the end of the 12MP.

Meanwhile, responding to a proposal by Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (PAS-Sik) to consider remuneration or compensation for states that were the country's main padi producers, Ahmad said various forms of subsidies and assistance were given in the form of agricultural inputs and outputs, construction of new infrastructure and upgrading of existing irrigation infrastructure.

However, he said the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and other stakeholders would continue to discuss, in order to create a win-win situation for the National Food Security agenda.

-- BERNAMA