SUBANG, June 18 — The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) in collaboration with the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) carried out a cloud seeding operation (CSO) at the Bukit Merah Dam, Semanggol, Perak today.

Agriculture and Food Industries Deputy Minister I Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah said the operation focused on two Integrated Agricultural Development Areas (IADAs) covering more than 20,000 hectares.

"This operation is carried out at IADA in the Kerian district covering 19,000 hectares while the cloud seeding at the IADA area in Penang involves 1,267 hectares,” he said in an OPA press conference at the RMAF base here today.

Ahmad said the operation was aimed not only at increasing the water level at the dam but also restoring the irrigation system for domestic, industrial and agriculture use.

"We are confident that this operation will directly benefit 8,869 padi farmers in the Kerian area and 1,267 from the IADA Penang area,” he said.

On the mechanism used for the operation this time, MetMalaysia deputy director-general of Operations Lim Ze Hui said the seeding was done using 800 kilogrammes of salt that were dissolved with 4,800 litres of water in four water tanks, flown using the Charlie 130 Hercules aircraft.

"For each spray in the suitable cloud, it takes 30 minutes to rain and according to our analysis today, the weather conditions are good and we have high chances (of success),” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the water level at the Bukit Merah Dam reached the critical level on May 27 and this had resulted in supply disruptions in the area.

"The water level in the dam stands at 27 feet (8.25 metres), less than 1.5 feet (0.45 metres) from the normal level of 28.5 feet (8.70 metres) and the dam is at level one,” he said.

The operation was conducted by 11 members of the RMAF together with three MetMalaysia staff. — Bernama