KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- Some 350,000 smallholders stand to make big gains from record rubber prices, with the price of SMR20 reaching it highest ever yet on Monday.
Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said at Monday's price of RM12.44 for a kilogramme of SMR20, the smallholders would be able to derive a gross income of RM4,000 a month.
"Looking at the trend of commodity prices the last several years, rubber prices have very been stable, This is a boon for smallholders," he told reporters after attending Risda's (Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority) Quality and Innovation Day here Tuesday.
In view of rubber showing good potential, he said Risda's rubber replanting scheme had been allocated RM217 million this year which would see replanting done in 131,528 hectares involving 52,000 smallholders.
He added that as of Sept 2010, 96,215 hectares or 73 per cent of the alienated acreage had been successfully replanted.
On plans to create Risda Holdings, Mohd Shafie said it was still at the ministry's stage and that once it took off, would be an apex company with paid up capital of RM50 million that would tasked with managing 10 agencies under it.
-- BERNAMA
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