By Shikin Louis
MUKAH, Feb 17: The Sarawak government will look into cultivating paddy on a 500-hectare site in the Rajang Delta, says Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He noted that the Rajang Delta area is suitable for paddy growing with ongoing research to produce high quality paddy yield is currently being undertaken by the local community and the private sector.
“I will visit the place and if this has a good success rate, we can produce paddy on a 500-hectare land.
“One hectare of land can produce about eight metric tonnes of rice. If you grow paddy on 500 hectares of land, the total would be about 40,000 metric tonnes,” he told reporters after officiating at th Tanjung Manis Water Supply opening ceremony at Tanjung Manis Water Treatment Plant here today.
Abang Johari also mentioned that the Federal government has announced that the floor price for paddy purchases has been revised up to RM1,300 per metric tonne in Sabah and Sarawak effective Feb 15.
“This would help to increase the farmers’ income and remove them from the poverty rate,” he added.
Earlier, Deputy Minister for Urban Planning Land Administration and Environment Datuk Len Talif Salleh who is also Kuala Rajang assemblyman and Rajang Delta Development Agency (RADDA) chairman, in his speech, disclosed that Kuala Rajang Islamic Welfare Trust Board (LAKIKR) together with landowner and private sector are conducting research to cultivate high quality paddy through modern methods on a 20-acre land.
The research, he said, aims to study the soil suitability and paddy varieties before expanding this cultivation to a larger scale of 800-acre site, where the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) has been directly involved in this area for the past 40 years.
Also present were Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Dato Sri Julaihi Narawi, Sarawak Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Corporate Affairs, Information and Sarawak Public Communications Unit) and Semop assemblyman Datuk Abdullah Saidol, Tanjung Manis MP Yusuf Wahab, and Mukah Resident Kueh Lei Poh. — DayakDaily
