Nafas confident of being trusted as subsidised fertiliser supplier

KUALA LUMPUR - The National Farmers' Organisation (Nafas) is confident that it will continue to be trusted by the government, to be involved in the agenda of manufacturing and supplying subsidised fertilisers to the country’s paddy farmers.

Its general manager Muhammad Faris Arriffin said apart from owning a fertiliser processing plant in Gurun, Kedah, with a production capacity of 360,000 metric tonnes per year, Nafas also has a strategic plan to deal with the recent issue of delayed supply of subsidised fertiliser, which was given serious attention by the government.

He said that the problem of late delivery of fertiliser to the regional farmers' association (PPK) has been addressed, through the implementation of the ‘zero late delivery’ initiative, a proactive step towards transforming the movement, so that available fertiliser stock is directly sent to the PPK.

"To ensure food security in the aspect of subsidised fertiliser manufacturing and supply takes place holistically, we hope Nafas continues to be trusted as a solution partner to the government in this important agenda.

"With more than 40 years of experience in manufacturing and supplying subsidised fertiliser to paddy farmers, we hope to continue to play a role in increasing rice production capacity, through the supply of quality agricultural input aid, sufficient and even following the rice planting schedule by farmers,” he said, when appearing as a guest on ‘Bicara Naratif’ programme produced by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) yesterday.

Also participating in the talk show, titled 'Peranan Nafas Dalam Keterjaminan Makanan Negara’ (Nafas’ role in the country’s food security), was a member of Nafas board of director, Datuk Aimi Jusoh.

Meanwhile, Aimi said that the fertiliser shortage situation experienced in the first quarter of 2022 is believed not to be repeated, after the Malaysian NPK Fertilizer Sdn Bhd (MNFSB) plant, involved in the process of manufacturing various types of fertilisers for the government subsidy scheme under Nafas in Gurun, has successfully increased its production capacity.

"At that time, we faced a multifold increase in the cost of raw materials for the manufacture of fertiliser, as well as goods delivery services, forcing various measures to be implemented to deal with the global economic situation due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

"Through several plans made, we managed to get out of the crisis and return to supplying sufficient fertiliser according to the schedule and time needed by the paddy farmers. Alhamdulillah, currently MNFSB has an excess stock or available stock of 33,000 metric tonnes, which can be supplied to the paddy farmers at any time,” he said.

Based on that ability, Aimi said that Nafas is ready to continue to be appointed by the government to be a subsidised fertiliser supplier to paddy farmers across the country.

In June, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu was reported to have said that the government is confident in the capabilities of Nafas, and has no problem offering a new contract to supply subsidised fertiliser to paddy farmers nationwide after the current supply contract expires at the end of this year. - BERNAMA