KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — The Plantation and Commodities Ministry (KPK) is hoping for higher allocation from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to address the issue of Pestalotiopsis Leaf Disease (PLD) affecting rubber tree growth more effectively, said Minister of Plantation and Commodities Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
He said the government had channelled RM35 million to the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) to implement control measures in 33,000 hectares of areas affected by PLD from 2023 to 2024.
Based on the board’s initial findings, the control methods implemented have been effective in curbing PLD.
“However, with the control cost of RM1,100 per hectare, I hope the MOF will consider providing a larger allocation to effectively address the issue of PLD,” he said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address for his ministry at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
As of today, he said 80,000 hectares of rubber tree plantations have been affected by PLD.
Meanwhile, Johari said the local rubber industry requires 1.4 million tonnes of natural rubber annually, but the country only produced 346,000 tonnes of natural rubber in 2023 and 377,000 tonnes in 2022.
As a result, last year alone, he said manufacturers of rubber products such as gloves and tyres had to import 950,320 metric tons of natural rubber worth RM5.4 million to overcome the shortage.
Johari said his ministry is studying a consolidation or clustering model for smallholders according to clusters (500 – 1,000 hectares per cluster) to increase capacity and reduce costs, involving all three stages in the rubber industry value chain (upstream, midstream, and downstream), and attract rubber tappers through fixed and stable income.
“This clustering model will be implemented in three states with a higher focus on untapped areas, namely Kelantan (34,621 hectares), Kedah (24,058 hectares), and Pahang (19,481 hectares),” he added.
— Bernama
