SHAH ALAM, Sept 25 — Incentives for paddy farmers will continue to be improved through a yield-based approach to increase productivity, said state executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Dato' Izham Hashim.
“Incentives are provided so that we can see an increase in productivity. So, if we implement these incentives incorrectly, they could become counterproductive and fail to bring about the increase in yields that we want,” he said.
Izham was speaking to the media after the 2027 Selangor Budget engagement session with Menteri Besar Dato' Seri Amirudin Shari at the Selangor International Trade and Exhibition Centre today.
He added that the state government had previously approved an incentive of RM100 per tonne for paddy farmers who achieved yields of more than seven tonnes per hectare, as a reward based on the yields achieved.
This approach provided rewards after yields were determined, rather than providing assistance at the initial stage of production.
“When we provide rewards based on output rather than inputs, instead of giving them from the beginning, we give them later. We provide encouragement for them to increase their yields, and from there we provide the incentive,” Izham said.
The session also featured presentations by Northwest Selangor Integrated Agriculture director Mario Valeriano and Universiti Putra Malaysia paddy cultivation expert Prof Mohd Rafii Yusop.
In his closing remarks, he said the yield-based incentive approach needed to be implemented carefully to ensure the objective of increasing paddy cultivation productivity is achieved.
This is intended to ensure that incentives are directly linked to improvements in productivity and paddy yields.
