SABAK BERNAM: Working in air-conditioned machines in padi fields was at one time unheard of.
However, second generation padi farmer Khairul Affendi Jarnuri from Sekinchan said the community is becoming more tech-savvy and willing to adopt new technologies, including using the latest transplanters and crop-spraying drones for fertilisation.
He said a lot of investments were made to acquire more efficient machinery that could help boost padi yields and were a lot easier to handle.
"For instance, we used to harvest padi using modified wheat-harvesting machines that were humongous and slow.
"Padi-harvesting machines these days work faster and are equipped with air-conditioned cabins to protect the driver (from the scorching sun and elements)," said Khairul who was among the three brothers, who had followed the footsteps of their father Jarnuri Tahrir, into the padi-farming venture.
Jarnuri, the managing director of Berkat Padi Sdn Bhd, was one of the Large-Scale Smart Padi Field (SMART SBB) participants under the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (Mafi).
Jarnuri said such initiatives would ensure that farmers, who owned pockets of land, would not be left behind as the country embraced modern farming.
SMART SBB is a government initiative which allows partnerships between private companies and padi farmers.
"Truth be told, some farmers were sceptical at first and thought their land ownership could be threatened if they participated in SMART SBB.
"However, we learnt that the programme merely allows us to collaborate as a group with companies like FGV (Holdings Bhd) in a lot of things involving rice production, all the while being able to keep our lands.
"With higher padi yields and income generated through the partnership, more padi farmers have expressed interest to join.
"There are currently 93 farmers, covering an area of 172ha here," he told the New Straits Times.
Roslan Aini from Bahtera Mega Sdn Bhd in Sungai Burong said he had seen an increase of padi yields in his area from four tonnes per hectare in 2019 to about 6.4 tonnes per hectare after joining SMART SBB.
"This will be the second harvest for us since joining the programme.
"We have about 70ha of padi fields in our area."
In Malaysia, March and September are the rice transplanting period, while harvest season arrives in June and December.