SUNGKAI, Oct 23 — The monthly RM200 participation incentive payment is among the four incentives for rubber smallholders who switch to latex production under the Latex Production Incentive (IPL) programme.
Deputy Prime Minister cum Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said growers will also receive RM2.00 per kilogramme in monthly latex production incentive, based on 100 per cent dry rubber content.
“Planters will also receive an RM100 monthly incentive payment for a limited one-year period.
“Besides that, they will also receive productivity incentives based on annual production target of between 1,000 to 1,499 kg per hectare annually (Cluster One) and 1,500 kg and above per hectare annually (Cluster Two),” he said.
Fadillah was speaking at the launch of two pilot projects, a New Model of Latex Production Incentive (IPL) and Malaysian Sustainable Natural Rubber (MSNR), at the Sungkai Statistics Training Centre today.
IPL aims to help rubber smallholders increase their income by encouraging them to switch from scrap rubber (cup lump) to latex production.
The programme, implemented via the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB), is a one-year pilot project involving Perak, Kedah and Sabah, with an estimated 1,500 participants and three processing factories.
Meanwhile, selected latex processing factories have been granted special permission for a limited one-year period to conduct mobile purchases of latex directly from smallholders in the same state.
The factory can obtain a loan for three RRIMeter processing units from MRB and a loan for three special design vehicles to transport latex.
RRIMeter is an MRB technology for smallholders and processing factories to determine the dry rubber content (DRI) quickly and accurately, which in turn will determine the price for rubber trading activities on the ground level.
At the press conference, the Deputy Prime Minister said IPL is expected to increase the income of small rubber farmers by up to 40 per cent and increase latex production for the country’s needs.
“In comparison, if the current price of frozen (scrap) rubber is RM3 per 1kg (ceiling price), latex can reach more than RM5 per 1kg, so this will give more income to rubber tappers,” he said.
In 2022, the value of Malaysia’s latex imports reached RM3 billion and with the transition of rubber smallholders to latex production, the government hopes to reduce dependence on the import of the commodity.
At the same event, Fadillah also launched the ‘mobile counter van’ providing services in the interior and areas which are far from the existing Malaysian Rubber Board office.
He also visited two latex collection centres at the multipurpose hall of Kampung Menderang and the Orang Asli hall in Kampung Menderang.
— Bernama
