Enough coconuts for Raya, says Minister

There should be sufficient coconuts to meet the demand in conjunction with the Aidilfitri celebration as Fama had taken early measures to bring in additional supply from Indonesia. Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Fama had imported three million coconuts to meet the demand for the festive season. "Domestically, some 30 million coconuts are consumed per month during normal times," he told reporters after opening the Sungai Besar Farmers Organisation annual general meeting, here, today. Asked on the development of the Aerob padi strain, he said the pioneer project involving this new strain was being implemented in Seberang Perai and the first harvesting would be done this September. "If the project is successful, this padi which can be planted three times per season and does not require stagnant water, will be promoted to farmers for them to plant it next year. "This padi can solve the problem of shortage of irrigation water and the padi plants can be just sprayed with water using a sprinkler," he said. However, he added, the success of an agriculture programme did not solely depend on the ministry making policies but also on the efforts of the farmers themselves. The minister said some farmers failed to obtain padi yields of more than four tonnes per hectare because they were not following good agriculture practices. "For example, if they are advised to use four packets of fertiliser for each padi plot, they use only two. As a result, the yield won't be high." Ismail Sabri said to encourage youths to participate in the farmers' organisation, the government would be setting up the Young Agropreneur Unit, which would include the formation of the Agropreneur Consultative Council, to be chaired by him.