More than 200 padi farmers devastated, storm damages ready-to-harvest crop

TANJONG KARANG - A padi farmer in Sawah Sempadan here suffered huge losses when his 1.2-hectare ready-to-harvest crop was destroyed by a recent storm.

"I should have harvested the crop three days earlier, but because of the rain, postponed it so that the crop would be drier, but the storm came,” said the 61-year-old farmer, Mansuri Dugan, 61.

He is among the more than 200 padi farmers in Sawah Sempadan whose crops were damaged by the storm and heavy rain last Monday.

Mansuri, who has been planting padi for more than 20 years, said a similar incident had happened several times before, but the damage and losses were not so huge.

"In this latest incident, my crop is almost completely damaged. The storm also affected other areas, but the damage was only 20 to 30 per cent.

"Normally, I can get seven or eight tonnes of padi, s of produce (rice), but after what happened (last Monday), I can hardly get two tonnes because the crop is now wet, which makes harvesting with a machine impossible,” he told reporters here.

Another farmer, Kamim Basiron, 60, said the storm damaged almost half of his padi crop.

"I’ll be grateful if I can get four or five tonnes. I’m fortunate to have my own farming plots, but what about other farmers who carry out padi farming on leased land.

"There’ll be no income (from padi) for them, yet they still have to pay for the land lease,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tanjong Karang Umno division leader Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Razak suggested the state government set up a special fund to assist the affected farmers. - BERNAMA