The government had never neglected the agricultural sector because it was one of the important sectors that could not be left out in the injection of funds. In fact, in the 2013 Budget, RM5.8 billion was channeled as incentives for the small-scale farmers, breeders and fishermen to boost the capacity of the sector.
 |
| Picture From The Malaysian Insider |
True to his word, the Prime Minister has anounced an allocation of RM28 million as a one-off contribution to assist small-scale farmers and breeders in the country.This announcement was made in conjunction with the launching of the Menara LPP and 40th anniversary celebration of the agency in Kuala Lumpur recently on Sunday, (24 February 2013),
Ralizing The request made by the small-scale farmers and breeders who were lagging behind compared to the large-scale farmers and fishermen. They cry was heard by the Prime minister and thus announced the allocation to serve the needs of this group with immediate response. The incentive should also be granted to the small-scale farmers and breeders numbering 800,000 people nationwide.
The allocation is expected to be channeled as an incentive to the Area Farmers Organisation (PPK) including for the purchase of chemical fertilizers oil palm barrels, pesticide containers and pest spraying tools amounting to an estimated RM20 million.
The balance is for meeting the costs of advanced courses and programmes for the “Kumpulan Kor-Tani”. The “Kumpulan Kor-Tani”, which was formed in April 2011 as the group that would take over from the current farmers and breeders in the country, now has 6,000 participants.
Past Assistance
the government had announced the granting of aid to the fishermen including the cost of living assistance of RM200 per month which benefited 55,000 registered fishermen.
In assisting the large-scale farmers, the government continued the granting of existing subsidy and incentive amounting to RM2.4 billion, besides introducing for the first time the Padi Takaful Insurance Scheme.
 |
| “When we have new ideas, we will be able to bring the farmers closer to the market, if there are problems of logistics, middlemen, or transportation, they can be resolved more effectively for the benefit of the group.” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak |
Agriculture: Pressing urgency to move forward
The Prime Minister made a point that the agricultural sector should be perceived as a thriving sector instead of a wilting and backward sector. But there must be efforts to turn the sector into a modern and dynamic one that should contribute towards the achievement of our objective to become a developed nation with a high income. The agricultural sector would not progress without quality human capital, who had an open mind to acquire new knowledge and capable of using innovative methods to achieve higher productivity. Citing the example of the establishment of the Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) and the planting of rock melons using autopots carried out at Seri Perdana as the transformation of new ideas, Najib said the projects had not only proved to have yielded higher returns for the farmers, but could also make the National Agro Food Policy more successful.
0 comments:
Post a Comment