LUMUT, June 28 (Bernama) — The government will continue to buy padi from farmers at the minimum price of RM750 a tonne albeit the world price having dropped below that figure, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar.
He said the government was doing this to ensure the welfare of padi farmers in the country was protected.
“The government has instructed Padi Beras Nasional Berhad (Bernas)to continue buying padi at the minimum price,” he told reporters after opening the National Padi Conference 2010, here Monday.
He added that buying padi at RM750 a tonne entailed a subsidy of RM284 for each farmer growing the staple.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=509423
From time to time, government will do something that always puzzles me. From Bernama, government is paying RM 750 a tonne and will continue to do so in order to protect the welfare of Padi farmers. Government is subsidizing RM 284, which means the actual value of is only RM 466!
I don’t understand the logic behind this subsidy. Basically government is subsidizing the small group of farmers and not the mass, which is the citizen. First thing that comes into my mind is, are we paying RM 750 to the government for the rice we eat? Are farmers actually that benefit from this weird buying behaviour? Or some buy and sell middle man? Government should stop spending our money to buy something that is so much higher than market price. I believe group of people is reaping lots of profit from our government generosity for buying overprice padi
why dont u guys be the paddy farmer & tell us how low u will getting from paddy farming?
It is great if government is helping the paddy farmers. But unfortunately, government do not buy directly from paddy farmers. They will go through middle man. Is the gov really protecting the farmers???
Let’s treat this as a business, if our paddy cost so much higher, it means that we are not competitive. We need to think of ways how to reduce cost and remain competitive.
If an item is expensive, and the gov subsidize. Then the gov is helping the people. If an item is expensive, and gov is buying IT at that price and sell it LOW. It means gov is losing at both side!
Not that i disagree with helping farmers. But isn’t there a better way? Instead of spending millions of ringgit to buy something unreasonable. How about spending it on R&D to increase productivity?
what better way are u suggesting?? and what would happened to the already poor farmers if the price drops even lower? true the gov might have better use for the money they spend on padi… but if they do that… padi farmers will end up suffering a lot.. well there is ups and downs to this..
First, gov should identify why is our price so much higher than market price. What is causing the cost paddy planting at such a high price? If gov know what exactly the problem is, then it is possible to solve such problem.
Figuring out the root of the problem, Gov with heavy investment should figure out ways how to reduce “cost” for farmers. They can always reduce taxes, promote various type of rice that has better margin, promote usage of machinery to reduce man power cost.
Stop the spoon feeding! We have to learn how to be competitive not only locally but globally.
Also want to point out that public will be buying rice at higher price too since gov buy and sell at higher price. Therefore, everyone suffers from the high cost of rice because gov is protecting and spoon feeding the farmers.