KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of the National Farmers Organisation (Nafas) as the sole wholesaler for the Certified Paddy Seeds Incentive (Insentif Benih Padi Sah or IBPS) programme will provide space for existing registered agents, individuals or companies to distribute the seeds.
Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said that it was because Nafas has strong financial resources as well as ability and experience in the distribution of the Federal Government Paddy Fertiliser Assistance Scheme (SBPKP) throughout the country.
“The appointment of Nafas is the best and integrated solution as it has network efficiency where the distribution of certified seeds involves 148 area farmers organisations (PPK) in paddy cultivation areas in Peninsular Malaysia,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat question-and-answer session yesterday.
Kiandee said this in his reply to a question from Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Padang Terap) regarding the appointment of Nafas as the sole agent to provide a solution in distributing paddy seeds.
He also said that the appointment of Nafas will also enable the paddy ceiling price to be implemented without involving an additional incentive allocation from the government.
He said that the move was seen to be able to avoid the manipulation of certified seed prices through uncontrolled purchases by various parties at the mills.
“Licences and permits will be given to agents, individuals or companies registered with the government to distribute the said paddy seeds as well as the determination of several varieties of certified seeds to be produced by legitimate companies, to be selected by the farmers.
Currently the government set the selling price for certified paddy seeds at the mills at RM28 per bag (20 kilogrammes per bag) to anyone including PPK, agents, companies, licensees or brokers. – Bernama