ALOR SETAR: Five-season padi crops within two years in Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA), could potentially be implemented with the initiative to upgrade the infrastructure of the tertiary irrigation system in the area which is expected to start this year.
Besides a better irrigation system, MADA general manager Kamarudin Dahuli said, in order to achieve that goal, appropriate technology needs to be introduced to ensure padi crops in the involved areas can be implemented properly.
“Support in terms of agricultural input subsidies and production incentives also needs to be continued and given to the farmers involved to ensure that padi crops have the potential to obtain maximum rice yield,“ he told Bernama here today.
He commented on the ‘Padi Wave’ initiative that was launched this year to raise the country’s padi and rice industry to a more efficient and resilient level.
Among the initiatives is to increase the area for the implementation of the five-season padi planting programme in two years involving 30,000 hectares in stages in the MADA area.
In October last year, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the project to upgrade the irrigation system, including the development and maintenance of 100 blocks of tertiary irrigation systems in the MADA area, is expected to start this year.
In addition, Kamarudin said the introduction of short maturing rice varieties that have the potential to give high yields, for example varieties that mature in 75 days after planting, will enable the programme to be implemented more successfully.
According to Kamarudin, to date, MADA has implemented a five-season crop programme in 213.99 hectares at the end of 2022/2023, involving 165 padi farmers.
“It is in an area of 44,731 hectares involving 54 padi farmers in MADA Region I, Perlis and 169,262 hectares involving 111 rice farmers in MADA Region III, Pendang.
He added that the implementation of five-season padi cultivation is one of the efforts that can increase rice yield so as to be able to reach the self-sufficiency level (SSL) for rice to the maximum level without having to rely on imports. – Bernama
