KUCHING, April 5 (Bernama) -- The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has applied for a RM70 million allocation to assist rubber smallholders in Sarawak to expand their smallholdings to generate higher income, said its minsiter Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
He said his ministry planned to open up 5,000 hectares per year for rubber in Sarawak over the next five years.
"This means after three years, we would have opened up 15,000 hectares (for rubber)," he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Rubber Board's cloning expansion project in Kampung Lebor, Serian near here Tuesday.
Dompok said he had applied for the allocation because rubber was a key economic crop under the National Key Economic Areas.
He said the ministry planned to open up 13,000 hectares and 40,000 hectares yearly for new planting and replanting respectively yearly, over the next five years, nationwide.
He said last year, the rubber industry generated RM33 billion for the national coffers, an increase of 32 per cent from RM25 billion in 2009.
"With the high rubber prices now, rubber smallhoders having an average lot size of 2.3 hectares producing 1,500kgs per hectare annually, can derive an income of RM3,500 monthly, he said.
The price of SMR 20 reached RM16.57 a kilo on Jan 25, the highest ever in the country. The high rubber prices now have been a boon to the 400,000-odd rubber smallholders in the country.
As commodities industries like rubber can help overcome rural poverty, federal assistance to rubber samallholders under the Ninth Mlaysia Plan somewhat had helped in this, said Dompok.
He also urged smallholders to work closely with the MRB so that they could avail high premium rubber clones for better yields.
-- BERNAMA
(Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=576561)
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