RM50 Mln Allocated for Cultivation of High-Quality Paddy

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (MOA) has allocated RM50 million to reduce the costs of paddy production and promote the use of certified high-quality paddy seeds. The MOA's secretary-general, Dr Ismail Bakar, said through the Certified Paddy Seed programme launched in 2006, the ministry would provide an additional allocation of RM25 million to cover the costs of 25,460 tonnes of paddy seeds in the second season of 2017, fulfilling the yearly actual need of RM75 million. He said the programme which involved various agencies had helped the ministry to supply subsidised paddy seeds to 200,000 farmers for the first season of 2017. “The Agriculture Department, for example, monitors and certifies the quality of paddy seeds used in the market, namely, the MR284, MR297 and MR220 CL2,” he said in a statement Tuesday. Further commenting on the involvement of other agencies, Ismail said nine manufacturers were appointed in an open tender from 2017 until 2019, including the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) which functions as the research agency to produce high-quality paddy seeds and to supply basic paddy seeds to the manufacturers. -- BERNAMA