Brown hoppers threaten 1,062 hectares of MADA padi field

A total of 1,062 hectares of padi fields situated within the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) areas in Kedah and Perlis have been threatened by brown hoppers since October 2012.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Datuk Wira Mohd Johari Baharum said this had incurred losses of RM3.628 million to the padi industry in MADA areas.

From the total area, 841 hectares in Kedah incurred losses of RM2.468 million while 221 hectares in Perlis experienced losses of RM1.160 million.

He said this to reporters after visiting affected padi fields in Kampung Simpang Sanglang.

Accompanying him were MADA deputy general manager Datuk Roslee Baharom and Perlis MADA Region 1 manager Ruslan Abdul Ghani Ahmad.

He said among the causes for this was farmers rarely visited their fields and did not detect the problem until it was too late.

Therefore, Mohd Johari promised to meet with farmer leaders of MADA areas before the Chinese New Year celebration to discuss on more effective approaches in tackling the problem.