Azman said fertiliser suppliers will take on the role of farm service providers for farmers. — ART CHEN/The Star
Agriculture and Food Security Ministry to raise local rice production, reduce costs
PUTRAJAYA: With rice being the lifeblood of most Malaysian diets, the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry has announced the launch of its Rice Granary Precise Fertilisation Pilot Project, in an effort to improve and secure the nation’s future rice self-sufficiency.
The project, which had already begun implementation since July 1, will see local fertiliser manufacturing suppliers become directly involved in increasing the rice production yield of local farmers while reducing costs for farmers, under the supervision of the ministry.
Agriculture and Food Security Ministry’s padi industry development division director-general Datuk Azman Mahmood said this will be done by having fertiliser suppliers take on the role of farm service providers for farmers.
“Previously, the supply of fertilisers was handled by each Regional Farmers’ Organisation (PPK) who procured them from suppliers and then distributed them to rice farmers for them to sow themselves.
“This new project will see the suppliers directly handle the fertiliser supply, delivery as well as provision of any additional farm services to rice farmers based on their needs and location’s soil profile.
“Application of fertilisers will also be handled by the suppliers, meaning rice farmers no longer need to incur costs to sow fertiliser in their fields as the cost of sowing will be borne by the Government through services by the suppliers,” he said, in a press briefing on the project at the ministry’s office here yesterday (Aug 15).
He added that the sowing of fertilisers will also be done through drones to ensure lower overall costs as well as faster sowing.
Azman said suppliers chosen for this project were also done through open tender by the ministry.
“The chosen suppliers were required to have local fertiliser manufacturing facilities that are registered under the Finance Ministry as well as a manufacturing licence from the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry.
“They were selected based on their financial stability and ability to join the project as well as their track record.
“They were also required to have either their own or outsourced farm service provider division with a priority on local startups run by youth to teach future generations to join the industry,” he said.
He noted that the synthetic compound fertiliser mix provided by suppliers will be catered to meet the needs of each rice farmland location’s existing soil profile.
“The fertiliser mix produced and provided to each rice farmland will be based on the farmland’s existing soil profile data that has been collected since 2018.
“The synthetic compound fertiliser mix will contain a combination of a minimum of three nutrients; the main ones being nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) that is produced by the supplier’s local fertiliser manufacturing factory.
“By catering the fertiliser mix to match each farmland’s soil profile, this is expected to significantly boost the yield once it is harvested while also cutting out unnecessary wastage of fertiliser,” he said.
He also said that urea – a nitrogen-based fertiliser - along with lime, organic fertilisers and Diammonium Phosphate - a high-phosphorus and low-nitrogen fertiliser - would also be used to help nourish and cultivate the soil before rice seeds are planted.
“Lime and organic fertiliser will be used to adjust the PH of the soil to become favourable for rice growth 10 days before rice is planted followed by Diammonium Phosphate being used three days before rice seeds are sowed.
“Specifically formulated recipes of NPK fertiliser along with urea are then used after to ensure the most optimal growth of the rice,” he said.
The project has been allocated a total of RM100mil to this regard, with RM50mil for the implementation of new fertiliser procurement methods and RM50mil for the supply of bio and organic fertilisers for the current rice planting season, according to Azman.“We will make a request to the Finance Ministry to continue funding the project after the current six-month rice farming season has passed by the end of this year.
“This is because the true benefit of this project will only be seen once the soil’s health has been cultivated over at least four multiple seasons or two years, producing far greater yields,” he added.He said that 8,718 rice farmers from Penang, Selangor, Terengganu and Kelantan, comprising over 20,371.83ha of rice granaries, have been chosen for the project.
“The farmers are chosen based on their soil profile, location and their rice farm cycle to match the project’s starting date of July 1 and were briefed by ministry officials.
“The farmers involved are then taken out of all existing fertiliser based incentives and subsidies while those unaffected will still be eligible for existing fertiliser incentives and subsidies,” he said.
