The increase in the rate of the Padi Price Subsidy Scheme (SSHP) starting today continues to draw praise from rice farmers who have been given a new vigour to work the padi fields.

Head of the Peringat Area Farmers Organisation (PPK) Unit, Kelantan, Zuha Ismail, 50, said the 300 rice farmers in Bendang Kampung Pangkal Pisang under his supervision breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the assistance was announced and were even invigorated to produce better quality rice.

“The subsidy given will be used for capital expenditure of paddy farming, especially to compensate for the cost of input prices which have risen by up to 70 per cent over the past two years,” he told Bernama today.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced an increase in SSHP from RM360 per tonne to RM500 per metric tonne from today which is the biggest increase in the country to date.

Anwar said with the increase, rice farmers will receive at least RM1,700 per tonne which will increase their income.

A rice farmer from Kepala Batas in Penang, Ahmad Arshad Abdullah, 50, said the increase in subsidy could ease the burden of rice farmers due to rising costs, including pesticides.

“(The new) SSHP can ease the burden of the rice farmers from a financial point of view... the government has not forgotten the power of the padi planters who produce rice, the main source of food for our country,” he said.

Another rice farmer from Kampung Guar Ujong Batu in Perlis, Sabu Bakar, 78, described the increase in SSHP as benefiting rice farmers who cultivate the rice crop on a small-scale.

“For us rice farmers who have a ‘serelong’ (plot of land the size of 0.28 hectare), this increase in SSHP is quite large and it can make more money for kitchen (daily) expenses,” he said.

A padi planter in Paya Sepayang, Rompin, Pahang, Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, 45, admitted he was astounded by the announcement of the new subsidy rate because the rate had not changed for as long as he could remember.

“From the very beginning, the amount has been like that and no one seemed willing to raise it even though rice farmers often complain, asking for it to be considered (for an increase) to help our income," he said.

For another rice farmer, Azrul Riduan, 35, the increase in the subsidy rate can indirectly attract the interest of more young people with a new spirit to work the rice fields.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency