SOME 13,520 hectares of land for 6,372 farm families has been approved for implementation in this year.

Deputy Chief Minister who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said that of the figure, 8,520 ha would be implemented by the Department of Agriculture under the Rubber New Planting Programme and 5,000 ha by Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) under the Replanting Programme.

The government had selected six high yielding Latex Timber Clones under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) Rubber Planting Programme, which could achieve a yield of at least two metric tonnes per hectare per year,” he said in his winding-up speech at the State Assembly esterday.

“These clones are also comparatively more resistant to diseases and wind damage than other clones.”

He added that an additional 10,000 ha had been allocated under the Rubber New Planting Programme to benefit more rural farmers this year.

“For next year and in the next eight years until 2020, I have requested an allocation from the federal government for the development of not less than 250,000 ha of Smallholders Rubber Planting (New Planting and Replanting) using RRIM Certified High Yielding Rubber Clones to benefit no less than 60,000 farmers in Sarawak, thus enabling the acceleration of Poverty Eradication Programme.”

On the NKEA smallholders’ Oil Palm New Planting Scheme, Jabu told the house that as end of April this year, the ‘Jawatankuasa Pemandu Tanam Baru Sawit Pekebun Kecil’ had approved a total of 5,150 farmers to participate in the programme covering an area of 15,500 ha throughout Sarawak.
“This represents about 67 per cent of the total area approved under the scheme for the whole Malaysia.” He added that the federal government had now increased the assistance from RM7,000 to RM9,000 per hectare for Sarawak and Sabah, spread over a three-year period.




Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/05/24/6372-farm-families-in-rubber-planting-programme/#ixzz1vk9k6kwl