Over five million bags of rice lost to floods this year, says Arthur

KUALA LUMPUR: Floods have severely affected Malaysia’s rice production this year, with about 5.3 million 10kg bags of potential harvest “lost” to date, says Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup.

“This year’s floods are exceptionally severe and affected our nation’s rice production.

“Until now, we have lost 5.3 million 10kg bags of rice due to the floods affecting our country,” the Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Dec 10).

He was responding to an additional question from Datuk Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh (PN-Besut) about the effectiveness of initiatives by the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry to address any rice shortage.

Arthur further said that the ministry had set up the Padi Crop Disaster Fund to support farmers and mitigate flood-related losses.

“Farmers are eligible for RM1,800 aid per hectare for up to three hectares, in addition to the new Agrobank’s Padi Crop Takaful Scheme launched in October that allows farmers to apply for up to RM3,000 aid per season,” he said, adding that the ministry had allocated RM30mil this year for repairs to infrastructure damaged by floods.

To address rice shortages, Arthur said four institutional and industry reforms were introduced and the Gelombang Padi programme strengthened.

These reforms include separating the powers and functions of padi management institutions, banning the mixing of white rice and imported rice, enhancing enforcement regulations and reinforcing the governance of the National Farmers’ Organisation and the Farmers’ Organisation Authority.

All these measures will come into effect on Jan 1, 2025, he said. – Bernama