Climate hits Malaysian rice output

Embun Majid The Star 5 Oct 11;

ALOR SETAR: Global climatic natural disasters in some parts of the world have affected padi harvest in areas managed by the Muda Agriculture Development Authority (Mada).

Although the impact is still under control, the agency that contributes 40% of the total rice production in the country is taking measures to protect the state’s rice bowl status.

There are four Mada regions, covering Kedah and Perlis.

The agency, set up in 1970, currently produces an average of 6.2 metric tonnes of padi per hectare with the help of irrigation canals that channel water to about 100,000ha of land.

However, natural disasters, including drought and floods due to the El-Nino and La-Nina phenomena, have disrupted the agency’s planting and harvesting schedules.

General manager Datuk Abdul Rahim Salleh said 17 incidents of flood over recent years had damaged crops and padi seedlings, causing losses to the tune of millions of ringgit.

He said three of the floods occurred between 1990 and 2000, while the 13 other flood incidents happened between 2000 and this year.

“This is proof that weather patterns have changed.

“We are keeping tabs so that the changes will not further damage our padi production,” he said, in an interview here.

He said areas hit by flood had to delay their planting as well as the harvesting process – setbacks the agency has to endure.

Abdul Rahim said although the agency could re-schedule the water releases for flood-hit areas, the question still remains on whether the soil would have ample time to recuperate after each planting season.

He said if the soil is still soft at the beginning of the first planting season of the year, which begins between March and April, it would not have enough time to harden and survive the burden of heavy machinery during the harvesting period.

“The dry season is important for padi planting because we need to make sure the soil is properly dried and hardened before we release water into the plots,” he said.

Abdul Rahim said Mada, being a National Key Economic Area (NKEA), has been allocated RM2.2mil to improve irrigation to its primary, secondary and tributary canals.

He said if the project that covers 128 locations in all Mada regions is completed, the agency would have better control of water flow.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Meteor­ological Department’s agricultural section head Azhar Ishak, when contacted, said weather changes affect agricultural activities, especially when it involves a pre-planned schedule like Mada’s.

He said studies showed global weather changes are due to the increase in temperature and over the years would increase gradually due to factors that include the greenhouse effect.

“We are studying the effects of global weather change on the country’s agriculture industry, not only for the padi industry but also for other agricultural activities,” said Azhar.

Haze, flood and drought are among the natural disasters that affect agricultural activities in the country.