| "Padi Angin" Now A Major Threat To Farmers In Sabah |
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KOTA BELUD, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Farmers in several districts in Sabah are now facing a major threat due to the existence of a wild padi species known as "padi angin" or weedy rice.
Disclosing this Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin said the state government viewed the matter seriously as it could cause farmers to lose up to 90 per cent of padi yield depending on the severity of the attack.
"The weed behaves like padi but characterised by early grain shattering. These seeds then grow alongside rice seeds during the next planting season, aggravating the severity of the attack from one season to the next," he said at an awareness campaign on the weedy rice at Tun Said Community Hall, here today.
Yahya, who is Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, identified Kota Marudu and Kota Belud as the districts affected most by the invasive padi species.
He said that so far 1,100ha of padi field in Kota Marudu and 500ha in Kota Belud were affected by the weedy rice.
"The same threat is also detected, albeit on a smaller scale, in Papar, Tenom and Penampang," he said.
Yahya said that if the threat was not tackled early, it could affect the state's rice production.
Among the steps taken by the ministry to address the problem was to launch awareness campaign on the weedy rice and how to effectively control the threat, he said.
The Sabah Agriculture Department had also outlined strategies to address the problem, among them was controlling the movement of ploughs, planting machines and harvesters, he said.
He also asked owners of farm machinery to register them at their respective districts and obtain job permits if they carried out ploughing, planting and harvesting activities outside their areas.
He also asked farmers to help control the weed by rouging and carrying out triple ploughing.
-- BERNAMA
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