JOHOR BARU: Vegetable and fruit farmers have rushed to sign up for the RM200 Budi Madani monthly diesel subsidy programme since it was introduced about a week ago.
Federation of Vegetable Farmers Association president Lim Ser Kwee said more than half of its members had already registered for the cash assistance online.
“However, we are unsure when the grant will be disbursed.
“Applicants were only told to check their application status on the website from time to time and we hope that the waiting period will not be too long,” he said when interviewed.
He said farmers were already affected by high operating costs such as worker’s wages and price of fertilisers and pesticides, which have increased about 40% since the economy reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Diesel is an integral part of a farm, powering pumps for irrigation, tractors and machines for dispensing fertiliser and pesticides, Lim added.
“The amount of diesel used each month varies; depending on the weather, we might need to water crops more or reduce the frequency.
“When it is dry, a farm could use up to RM50 for diesel a week just to water the crops,” he said.
He added that the RM200 diesel subsidy, although not enough to cover the costs, was welcomed by farmers as it helped to keep them afloat and compete with farmers overseas.
“Without government subsidies and grants, farmers will find it more difficult to sustain and the industry will keep shrinking in the next five to 10 years.
“When more farmers choose to get out of the sector, the country’s food security will have to depend greatly on imports, which does not benefit the domestic economy either.
“Government support is needed to strengthen the agriculture sector; when local farmers do well, we can also go into the exporting market and contribute to the nation’s economy,” he said, adding that there were more than 6,000 vegetable farmers nationwide.
Federation of Malaysia Fruit Farmers Association acting president Alvins Lo urged farmers to register for the diesel subsidy in order to give the government a clearer picture of those in need of such financial assistance.
He added that since the government’s move to rationalise diesel subsidies, the association has received many calls and inquiries from industry players about the subsidy application process.
“This shows that the matter affects their livelihood and costing as farming is a tough 3D (dangerous, dirty and difficult) industry that utilises diesel in our daily operations from managing crops to transportation,” he said.
Although the Finance Ministry defined eligible applicants as agriculture or commodity smallholders with an annual turnover of between RM50,000 and RM300,000, he urged all members as well as non-member farmers to sign up for the subsidy programme.
“Farmers should state why they need the subsidies even if their farms do not meet the annual turnover criteria.
“This will better let the government understand the real situation and make improvements to the policy and mechanism accordingly to support the agriculture sector.
“The federation also meets with the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry from time to time and we will have a stronger bargaining power when we can show data-driven information to ask for higher subsidy amounts,” added Lo, who is also Johor Fruit Farmers Association chairman.
On May 21, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the Cabinet agreed to rationalise diesel subsidies; this would begin with targeted diesel subsidies in the peninsula first, and later for Sabah and Sarawak.
The Finance Ministry then opened applications for cash assistance under the Budi Madani programme to individuals, small-scale farmers and smallholders from the B40 and M40 groups in the peninsula, starting May 28.
For assistance about the Budi Madani programme, contact the helpline at 1-800-88-2747, 03-8882 4565 or 03-8882 4566 or email budimadani@treasury.gov.my.
Queries can also be directed to the agriculture ministry operations room at 03-8870 1207/1147 from 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays or via email to geoagroadmin@kpkm.gov.my.
Alternatively, assistance can also be sought at all Inland Revenue Board offices in Peninsular Malaysia.
