KANOWIT, Sept 7 ― Local paddy farmers, especially those in rural areas, are also feeling the pinch of the price increase of imported white rice as announced by Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) recently.

Tuai Rumah Saini Ngitar from Nanga Ngungun here said many of them still need to buy rice to cater for their households even though they grow their own paddy.

"Many farmers are giving up on paddy cultivation because the harvest is not worth the cost and hard work they spent in the fields.

"Another factor is the high price of agriculture inputs such as fertilisers and weedkillers.

"Paddy farming is also affected by diseases and climate change. Sometimes when the weather is too hot, farmers are only able to tend to their farm for a few hours,” she said when met yesterday.

Saini said last year, her harvest was 10 gunny sacks which was barely enough for her family consumption and to be used as paddy seedlings for this year’s cultivation season.

"The increase in price of sugar, eggs, vegetables and other essential items already has a great impact on the lower income household group like us.

"Now with the hike in rice price, surely we will need to tighten our belts more.

"I really hope the government will find a solution to help the people cope with this rising cost of living,” she lamented.

Jamit Bajai from Nanga Bat who has stopped farming for a few years now shared a similar sentiment with Saini.

According to him, the low-income households spend a big amount of their income on food.

"So when food prices increase, they are the ones badly impacted. In this case, the price of Vietnam 5 per cent Broken Rice has soared from RM28 per 10 kilogramme packet to RM38.

"Imagine those with large families, how much are they going to spend on rice each month?” he said.

For Franky Ayong, he suggested the government introduce a mechanism to help, especially the B40 group, to cushion the impact of the price hike.

"They can introduce a subsidy for imported broken white rice for this targeted group.

"The hardest hit in this situation is the B40 group... those earning daily wages of RM40 to RM50 per day.

"Or maybe it is time for us to start cultivating our own rice again,” he said.

Recently, Bernas announced that the price of imported white rice has been raised from RM2,350 per metric tonne to RM3,200 starting this month. ― Borneo Post