PASIR PUTEH: A recently sown portion of 50 hectares of padi fields near Kampung Gong was destroyed after the area was hit by floods on Tuesday.
The affected farmer, Mohd Rizi Ismail, 29, said he started sowing 12 hectares of the fields last week because he thought the Northeast Monsoon was over.
“About 12 hectares of my padi fields were sown last week at RM150 per acre.
“I decided to sow the seeds this month because the flood season is supposed to be over.
The planting is already behind schedule, it should have started in November last year,“ he told Bernama in Kampung Gong, here today.
He said all the farmers who cultivated the crops had to wait for the water to recede first to determine the extent of the damage.
“If the seeds are rotten or washed away by flood currents, we have to come up with additional capital to buy new seeds and also spray the ‘gondang’ snail poison again,“ he said.
Another farmer, Mohd Rozaimi Ariffin, 47, said the flood waters in the padi fields may take a long time to recede if the rain persists.
“The current narrow irrigation system hampers the efficient drainage of water from the padi fields, impacting the quality of the recently sown rice seeds,“ explained the head of Kampung Gong, Nik Asri Nik Hasan, 57.
He added that some of the residents rely on the income from the sale of rice to sustain their families and cover daily expenses. – Bernama
