Sarawak asks Putrajaya to foot half of RM1 billion bill to develop padi farmland

SARAWAK has proposed that Putrajaya chip in 50% of the estimated cost of RM1 billion to develop the basic infrastructure, particularly drainage and irrigation, of its 10,000ha padi farmland in the Lingga–Stumbin–Tg Bijat areas of Sri Aman division.

One-to-one share, Premier Abang Johari Openg said.

Abang Johari told reporters, after launching the second regional conference on agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainable utilisation (RAC2) in Kuching, that he had passed on the request for the funds to Agriculture and Food Securities Minister Mohamad Sabu when he paid a courtesy call on him in February.

Abang Johari said the amount was derived from the investment Putrajaya had sunk in to develop the drainage and irrigation of a similar sized padi farmland in Kedah.

Since Sarawak has not received any feedback on the request, it prompted Abang Johari to put forward the 1-to-1 formula.

Not wanting to wait for an answer, Abang Johari said the state has allocated half a billion ringgit to put in place the drainage and irrigation infrastructure next year.

“We have to start somewhere,” he said as Sarawak had set its sights on addressing the issue of food security by making the state one of the leading rice-exporting states.

Apart from the Lingga–Stumbin–Tg Bijat area, Sarawak is also developing similar sized lands in Simunjan, Lundu, Limbang and Lawas for padi farmlands.

Those areas need money too, he said.

In a trial project to grow rice from Vietnamese hybrid seeds in Simunjan, Abang Johari said initial results showed it matched the simulation of researchers from Universiti Putra Bintulu.

In the simulation, the crop ripens in four months and the yield per hectare is eight metric tons.

Currently, the farmers could only get 1.2 metric ton per hectare and one harvest a season, the premier said.

Based on the simulation, there could be five harvests in 24 months or a yield of 40 metric tons from a hectare of land, he added.

With each villager owning, on average, 5ha of padi farmland, the premier said they could easily earn an income of RM6,000 a month.

“That will pull them out of poverty.”

Abang Johari said the state’s objective is to produce 240,000 metric tons of rice per year as it aims to be self-sufficient in the staple commodity. – June 11, 2024.