Even our rice production hampered by coruption

Malaysiakini:

Ex-minister calls on govt to let paddy farmers choose their seeds, fertilisers

Paddy planters should have the right to choose from whom they buy paddy seeds and fertiliser, said former agriculture and agro-based industries minister Salahuddin Ayub.

He said that the farmers must be given such options to prevent problems of price exploitation and shortage of supply.

According to the Pulai MP, the industry needs a full restructuring exercise to ensure quality services and maximum productivity.

"I admit that this issue has been going in for several seasons. It was never solved.

"Thus, I think that in this issue, the whole value chain must be reviewed and a holistic approach (is introduced)," he told Malaysiakini.



Salahuddin (photo) was commenting on the problems faced by paddy planters in Kedah and Perlis, including a hike in the price of paddy seeds and delay of the stock arrival.

On Oct 2, Pesawah, a non-government association that represents paddy farmers in the country, had submitted a memorandum to the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry in Putrajaya over the issues.

Its representative, Abdul Rashid Yob had said the majority of paddy farmers in Kedah and Perlis who were supposed to start their planting exercise on Sept 9, could not do so due to scarcity of paddy seeds in the market.

Rashid claimed that some farmers at certain places were also facing extremely high paddy seeds prices.

Increase of suppliers only temporary measure



Recently, Kangar MP Amin Ahmad (photo) had also responded to the issue raised by Pesawah. He had suggested for the government to increase the number of seed suppliers to solve the issue.

According to Amin, the supply of paddy seeds is currently being controlled by a small number of industry players.

He also claimed that farmers were also supplied with low-quality seeds due to lack of competition.

"Delays in receiving paddy seed and low-quality seed being supplied to farmers are not new. This industry is being controlled by a cartel. Not a political cartel, but a paddy seeds cartel.

"They control the supply and cause farmers to face delays in receiving the product. Besides that, the seeds supplied were also of low quality.

"Thus, I urge the federal government to introduce more competitors in this industry," he told Malaysiakini.

Saifuddin, however, did not fully agree with Amin's suggestion.

The former minister said that he wanted to restructure the process of purchasing paddy seeds in the country. This, however, could not be done as the Pakatan Harapan government had collapsed in Feb.

He said the suggestion to get more suppliers involved may be a temporary approach but not as the final solution.

"The government has to give farmers the right to choose the type of seeds and fertilisers that they want. We should give them options.

"This is what people call a game-changer or piecemeal solution," he said.

Salahuddin also calls for the current Agriculture Minister Dr Ronald Kiandee to take immediate appropriate action.

"I hope that the minister will have a better approach. I hope that he can restructure the process to purchase seeds and also review the whole value chain."

Malaysiakini has attempted to get responses from related agencies since last week.