The Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) has received RM397 worth of budget, the highest budget that was given by the Government so far for rubber replanting and new planting programmes in Malaysia, said Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik, Chairman of RISDA.
The budget will be allocated to 34,310ha for replanting rubber trees, 3,000ha for planting of new rubber trees, 10,000ha for replanting of oil palm under the National Key Economic Area, 100,771ha for extending the replanting plans of the Ninth Malaysia Plan and lastly, 14,597ha for the 10th Malaysia Plan.
The MoU signing ceremony between Felcra Bhd and RISDA was done yesterday. Under this MoU, RISDA will conduit the fund for Felcra to develop land owned by smallholders that was underproductive.
Both parties said that with the efficient and systematic mode of replanting that they will implement, the land that used to be unproductive will become productive.
Earlier, Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal of the Rural and Regional Development who was in the MoU signing ceremony said that the replanting programme of RISDA’s from 2012 to 2015 is expected to increase the natural rubber production by 100kg per ha from 152,343 smallholders. (PRA)