KUALA LUMPUR: Rubber and oil palm smallholders have been urged to merge their holdings to become more profitable.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix) said that if these farmers continued with the “old way” of doing things, it would be more difficult for them to make profits.
“When the prices of commodities are high, they will make money, but if prices drop they will suffer losses,” he said at the National Association of Smallholders Malaysia biennial general meeting, here today.
He said padi farmers had already responded to the call to merge their farms, and other smallholders should follow suit.
Mahathir said if all the smallholders merged their farms and worked together, they could produce a lot of other things as well.
“We are encouraging others to follow the example of the padi farmers, and the Agriculture Ministry will take the lead in this,” he said.
“For instance, if 20 people combine their smallholdings, they can become directors and appoint a third party director to monitor the progress of their plantation,” he pointed out.
“It is important that such plantations be managed by trained professionals who know estate management techniques,” he said.
“Small-scale farming only works for the cultivation of vegetables or fruits,” he added.
In his speech, Dr Mahathir reiterated the need to merge rubber and oil palm smallholdings to become big rubber or oil palm estates for higher returns.
“Management should be left to experts just like how its being done for plantations,” he said, adding that the smallholders would not lose their lands and that profits would be distributed according to the size of land they contributed.
He said when merged, replanting can be done at a small portion of the new acreage, and that the part not under replanting can provide temporary returns pending the yields from the replanted trees.
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir urged oil palm smallholders who have not registered for the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification to do so at any Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) office. — Bernama
