Paddy farmers wants Cabinet to hear their plight

IPOH: Paddy farmers, unhappy with the current grading system and price reduction, want the Agriculture and Agro based Industries ministry to bring their plight to Cabinet.
 
Perak Farmers Organisation chairman Datuk Nadzri Ismail said until a solution is found, the system must help the farmers with a reliable percentage.
"We want the ministry to come out with an efficient system as soon as possible as the next harvest season is approaching. The farmers also want the ministry to come with a uniformity system for grading at all rice mills compared to the current different system," he said.
He added the current purchasing and quality grading system had caused losses between 22 to 60% for one harvest season compared to 16 to 18% previously.The ministry had not set a maximum percentage grading system.
"Until a solution is found, the percentage should be set at between 18 and 22," he said..
The organisation also thanked Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir for urging the Federal Government to suspend the grading system temporarily.
Nadzri said they welcomed the proposal by the state government to form a special committee on paddy and rice industry to oversee and monitor all policies and activities.
Meanwhile Bagan Tiang, Parit Buntar Areas Farmers Organisation head Abdullah Salleh said the main reason for the poor quality of paddy is due to irrigation problems.
The state organisation has 102,399 members of whom 17,652 are paddy farmers.