Mada's mitigation plan saves padi farmers from losses due to dry spell

KANGAR - The Muda Agricultural Development Authority’s (Mada) mitigation plan to address the water supply shortage issue caused by the dry spell from March to May had prevented padi farmers in Mada areas from suffering losses.

State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Rural Development, Poverty Eradication, Plantation Industries and Commodities Committee chairman Razali Saad said the measures taken by Mada helped prevent damage to padi crops in the state.

"According to Mada records, no padi farmers in Mada areas were affected by the drought, as padi planting activities for Season 1/2023 were not extensively implemented at that time.

"The water supply was sufficient and there were no water shortage issues in the padi fields, while the water capacity at the Timah Tasoh Dam was also at a satisfactory level,” he said at the State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.

The Simpang Empat assemblyman said this in reply to a question from Saad Seman (PN-Chuping) on the number of padi farmers affected by the unpredictable weather events this year.

Razali said Mada’s mitigation plan includes a variety of measures, such as recommending that padi farmers adopt the dry seeding planting method, continuously monitoring the reservoir water level and providing farmers in need with portable pumps.

According to him, Mada also conducted irrigation system maintenance and cloud seeding operations as needed, provided assistance and technical advice to the affected farmers and carried out research on the development of weather-resistant varieties.

Razali said, however, that farmers outside Mada’s areas were impacted by the decrease in rainfall, which has an effect on ploughing and padi planting activities.

He said according to the Area Farmers Organisation (PPK) records as of July 2023, a total of 501 hectares of padi fields involving 434 farmers were affected by the unpredictable weather changes.

As such, he said the State Agriculture Department had distributed ten water pumps worth RM50,000 to participants of the padi cluster project in order to transfer and distribute water from the water source to the padi fields.

"In addition, the department has upgraded the irrigation and drainage systems by building new and maintaining existing ditches, as well as constructing water barrage gates,” he said. - BERNAMA