By Sofia Nasir
SHAH ALAM, Dec 10 — The state government commends the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who urged Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) to share profits with the nation’s rice farmers.
State executive councillor for infrastructure Izham Hashim stated that the state administration viewed the statement as one of the most effective short-term solutions for reviving the struggling rice agricultural sector.
“In Selangor, paddy production has decreased significantly. For example in Sekinchan, before we got eight tonnes per hectare, but now only 4.6 tonnes for one season.
“A lot of people don’t want to be involved in paddy farming now because it doesn’t make a profit. The prime minister’s efforts are good because this could lift up their spirits,” he said when met at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Shah Alam Flood Action Plan Project (Sasud) in Taman Sri Muda, here yesterday.
Izham said that the state government took a number of actions to assist paddy farmers in boosting crop productivity.
He said that some of the initiatives include helping all the state’s 17,000 hectares of paddy farmers by providing four types of fertilisers at a cost of around RM9 million.
On Monday, Anwar reportedly said that Bernas has agreed to allocate RM10 million for this year and RM50 million the following year to the poor farmers.
He said the agreement was reached following his remarks regarding the rice import monopoly issue in the country.
