New Paddy Floor Price To Be Announced Next Week, No Impact On Consumers - PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- The government is expected to announce an increase in the paddy purchase floor price next week, along with additional subsidies to mitigate the impact on consumers.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu would table a ministerial paper to announce and clarify the floor price increase.

“The rise in the floor price will inevitably lead to an increase in rice prices for consumers. Our challenge is to balance this - while the price of paddy rises for farmers, we do not want to burden consumers,” he said.

“I have already discussed this with the Ministry of Finance to ensure the government will cover the subsidy, preventing an increase in local rice prices for consumers. The government will allocate an additional RM150 million over the next six months to support this effort, and the details will be finalised soon,” he said during Ministerial Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat.

Anwar was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran), who had raised the issue of paddy farmers' demand to raise the paddy purchase floor price to RM1,800 per metric tonne.

In 2023, the government raised the paddy purchase floor price to RM1,300 per metric tonne, up from RM1,200 per metric tonne, where it had remained since 2014.

However, on Jan 27, the Pertubuhan Persaudaraan Pesawah Malaysia (PeSAWAH), an association representing paddy farmers, urged the government to consider increasing the paddy floor price further, from RM1,300 per tonne to RM1,800.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, acknowledged the issue and said that he had reviewed the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), in addition to discussing it with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

He also slammed the opposition for attempting to undermine the government's efforts to assist paddy farmers by raising the floor price. Anwar pointed out that during their tenure in government, the opposition had failed to take similar action.

“Don’t deny it, this is the truth. You made noise, but when you were in power, you didn’t raise the floor price of paddy. We are the ones who raised it,” he said.

He stressed that the government must strike a balance, acknowledging both the needs of consumers and the livelihoods of paddy farmers, particularly as many in the B40 group face financial difficulties.

Responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) on the paddy floor price of RM1,300 - which he noted was relatively low compared to the increase in diesel prices - Prime Minister Anawr said he would look into the matter.

“If there are farmers struggling with diesel costs, submit their names, and we will reimburse them,” he assured.

In his reply to Ronald’s question on the rising cost of paddy production, Anwar said that since the MADANI Government took office, several initiatives have been implemented to support paddy farmers, including two consecutive years of special assistance in 2023 and 2024.

“Only after the MADANI Government came to power were cash contributions for paddy farmers increased - by RM228 million in 2023 and by RM600 per year in 2024 for each farmer. This had never been done before,” he said.

Additionally, Anwar highlighted the introduction of the Paddy Crop Takaful Scheme with an initial allocation of RM50 million. He also noted that over RM400 million had been allocated to Sabah and Sarawak to offset the higher cost of rice in those states.

Meanwhile, in his reply to Ronald's original question, Anwar said that the government had approved RM1 billion for the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) to implement a programme aimed at increasing paddy productivity, set to be launched later this month.

“It can at least meet the current local needs from around 56 per cent to 70 per cent,” he said.

Ronald had inquired whether the government planned to review its policy of maintaining a 70:30 ratio between locally produced and imported rice to ensure the sustainability of the paddy industry in line with the National Agrofood Policy 2021-2030.

-- BERNAMA