Budget 2023: Risda hopes Monsoon Season Aid for smallholders can be increased
29 Sep 2022 05:11pm
Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) Chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif (second from right) - BERNAMA
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Its chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif said that last year, Risda had allocated RM191 million under BMT for smallholders with a rubber plantation area of less than 2.5 hectares.
"The increase depends on the government budget that will be tabled later, but I hope it exceeds what we received last year to help smallholders.
"For now, the BMT we give is a total of RM600 (per smallholder) with payments made in November and December, so we are asking for an increase, we have also held a meeting with smallholders to discuss the matter," he told reporters after a Negeri Sembilan state-level Risda event here today.
At the event, a total of 1,343 Risda smallholders in Negeri Sembilan received commercial replanting dividends from profits of plantation projects managed by Risda Plantation Sdn Bhd (RPSB) from January to August.
Meanwhile, Mohd Salim who is also Jempol MP reiterated calls for the price of scrap rubber to be increased to RM3 per kilogramme (kg) compared to the current RM2.50 per kg to increase the income of rubber tappers especially during current uncertain weather conditions.
He said the current monthly income of smallholders of around RM750 was not enough to sustain their lives which indirectly caused the rubber commodity sector to shrink because not many were interested in working on it.
Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid was previously reported as saying that the ministry was drafting two recommendations to be presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob namely to raise the floor price of scrap rubber to over RM3 per kg and extend the BMT period from three months to six months.
Mahdzir said a Cabinet committee had been created involving his ministry the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities and the Ministry of Finance to identify the best recommendations to be implemented. - BERNAMA
