KOTA KINABALU, Feb 15 — The new floor price for padi purchases in Sabah and Sarawak at RM1,300 per tonne, which came into effect today, is expected to increase the income of farmers in both states.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said the government has agreed to standardise the amount from RM900 to RM1,300 to align it with the floor price for padi purchases in the peninsula.
He also said that according to projections from the Padi Industry Development Division, the new floor price would increase the gross income of Sabah’s farmers by 50 per cent annually from RM6,681 per hectare to RM10,375 per hectare.
A total of 17,298 padi farmers (excluding hill padi) are set to benefit from this initiative.
“I hope this will encourage more farmers to cultivate padi and increase rice production,” he told reporters after the 2024 New Year Mandate ceremony with Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM) agencies in Sabah today.
Arthur also believed the initiative to standardise the minimum guaranteed price would support the padi and rice industry in Sabah and Sarawak to remain sustainable and competitive in line with the ministry’s goal of increasing the nation’s rice production.
He said the government is also providing several input incentives to help reduce the production costs borne by farmers, including the Federal Government Padi Fertiliser Scheme, Padi Production Incentive Scheme, Fertiliser Subsidy and Pesticide for Hill Rice and Padi Price Subsidy Scheme.
The setting of the floor price for padi purchases only involves white rice and does not include special or traditional rice produced in Sabah and Sarawak.
Earlier, in his address, Arthur said this year, the ministry would focus primarily on developing the rice, poultry and egg, onion and pineapple industries to ensure the country’s food security is at the optimum level.
He also hoped that cooperation between KPKM and the Sabah Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry would be strengthened, among others, to develop idle lands in the state with agri-farming activities to boost the state’s potential as the country’s agri-food production hub.
Also, to strengthen the “Padi Wave” initiative to improve existing mechanisms and drive the transformation of the country’s padi and rice industry, as well as efforts to increase productivity and self-sufficiency level in Sabah, given that the average rice yield in the state is currently low at around 2.882 mt/ha, he said. — Bernama
