Selangor spends over RM136 mln to modernise agriculture

State Infrastructure and Public Amenities, Agriculture Modernisation, and Agro-Based Industry Committee chairman Izham Hashim said the incentives involved the modernisation of rice crops, coconut, and palm oil plantations as well as vegetable crops.

He said of the figure, more than RM52 million was spent on the modernisation efforts for the Kuala Selangor and Sabak Bernam districts which also included incentives in the forms of equipment and agricultural inputs.

He said the initiatives and incentives that were implemented for paddy planting included the distribution of paddy seeds, organic fertilisers, and paddy soil profiling to identify the soil fertility level which is being carried out actively in the areas, among others.

"We found that one of the main reasons for the decline in rice production in the Northwest IADA (Integrated Agricultural Development Area) is due to poor soil treatment, which is being addressed on a large scale," he said.

He was responding to the question raised by Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin (BN-Sungai Panjang) who wanted to know the initiatives and incentives for agricultural modernisation in the state's northern districts.

Izham said to increase the rice yield in the areas, the state government, in collaboration with the federal government, has expanded paddy cultivation under the Large-Scale Smart Paddy Field (SMART SBB) programme in an area of over 2,000 hectares.

He said, in efforts to develop Sabak Bernam as an agro-farming and agro-tourism cluster, the state government has also implemented a high-value crop plantation of golden melon with the involvement of 15 entrepreneurs at the initial stage.

"The state government has also approved 48.5 hectares (120 acres) of land under the second Selangor Smart Agro Park programme in the Air Tawar area following the project in Changkat Menteri (Sabak Bernam), which is now in the process to obtain the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval starting the last quarter of this year to plant vegetables, pineapples as well as to carry out a matag seed production project," he added.

In addition, Izham said a papaya crop seeding project known as Selangor Tropical Papaya was also carried out in the Air Tawar area launched by the Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin on June 2.