Bernas vying to be sole gatekeeper for rice industry

ALOR STAR: Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), which is vying to be the sole gatekeeper for the rice industry with the expected overhaul of the industry under Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub, today said it is committed to ensuring that local padi farmers have a guaranteed ready-market for their produce under the “buyer of last resort” scheme.
Salahuddin announced in June 2018 that the monopoly to import rice by Bernas was terminated and that the ministry was coming up with a working paper on the industry with feedback from the agriculture and agro-based industry ministry and other stakeholders.
“If the particular harvest is rejected by other mills, farmers have the option of selling their paddy to Bernas where we will purchase the paddy regardless of the quality, at the guaranteed minimum price,” Kilang Beras Bernas management head Mohamad Solhi Mohd Salleh told reporters during a media trip to KBB today.
The trip was hosted by Bernas in conjunction with the northern region’s second rice harvest season.
In 2014, Mohamad Solhi said that the government set a uniform RM1,200 per tonne price for the purchase of paddy from farmers, adding that the rate of paddy subsidy to farmers currently stood at RM300 per tonne.
Previously, he said that the price for paddy bought from farmers differed from state to state, ranging from RM980 per tonne in Kelantan and up to RM1,300 in Selangor.
He noted that Bernas purchases about 400,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes paddy from the farmers every year.
A representative from Kelab Jelapang Padi, Kedah, Jaafar Zakaria said Bernas has continued to assist the local farming communities beyond their post-harvest responsibilities via ensuring prompt management of the paddy subsidy.
“Such support is critical in helping ensure the continuity of the industry,” Jaafar said.
Bernas currently operates 28 of the 180 mills across the country. It has 22 mills operating in the northern region including Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak.