adminKUALA LUMPUR: Claims that the government is late or has failed to distribute assistance to farmers are untrue. In fact, the government has increased the Ploughing Incentive for Farmers (IPKP) and announced an increase in the value of assistance.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said yesterday the government would increase the IPKP from RM100 to RM160 per hectare starting season 1/2025 and announced an increase in the assistance value to RM300 per hectare.
“For season 1/2025, IPKP payments have been fully completed involving RM39.314 million to more than 135,000 rice farmers throughout the Peninsular.
“For season 2/2025, as of yesterday, more than RM27 million has been paid, while about 30 percent of the remaining claims are in process and will be resolved soon,” he said in a Facebook post today.
He said the IPKP payment method is implemented after planting is carried out by the farmers and is different from BUDI Agri-Commodity cash assistance which is directly credited to the recipient’s account.
“In every season, some farmers plant and some do not. Some cultivate 10 hectares this season, the next season only eight hectares. That is why demands are made based on the actual work carried out so that the people’s money is managed transparently and accurately.
“It is also important to understand that the paddy planting season in each state is not uniform. For example, when Kedah begins entering the new planting season, there are other states such as Kelantan that are still in the harvesting phase. So payments cannot be made simultaneously to all states at the same time,” he said.
Mohamad said that after a claim is submitted by a service provider or farmer, officers will go down to the field to verify and payment will be processed if the documents are complete and the claim is verified.
Apart from IPKP, the government has also introduced a Paddy Harvest Incentive (IPP) of RM50 per hectare starting last year which uses the same claim method.
“The fact is, assistance has been paid, is being paid, and the remaining claims will continue to be settled after all verification processes are finalized,” he said.
Mohamad said the government would continue to increase assistance, improve the system and ensure that the welfare of farmers was protected, as well as identifying and improving weaknesses in the claims process from time to time.
“There are farmers who have paid ploughing wages to service providers and after the government pays the service providers, these service providers do not return the excess payments to the farmers for various reasons.”
“This issue is being addressed, the ministry will announce improvements to the claim and payment methods in the near future, God willing,” he said.
— BERNAMA
