PADANG TERAP (KEDAH): The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) is confident the newly launched Crip Rubber Processing Centre here will help create many more job opportunities and also increase the income of smallholders.
MPIC minister, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said the commitment shown by local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) will also help reduce the economic gap between the upstream and downstream sectors in the national rubber industry.
Zuraida also launched the Rubber Industry Transformation Project (Target) here, today.
"Crip rubber can be sold at higher prices and is a new alternative for rubber smallholders to diversify their sources of income.
"It will also help reduce their dependence on the production of latex or cup lump rubber," she said.
She said crip rubber contains more rubber content and due to that, it has a higher price than a cup lump.
On Project Target, Zuraida said it was an effort by the ministry to increase the income and
competitiveness of rubber smallholders in the country.
Cooperatives and rubber traders can benefit from joining this programme, she said.
The aim of Project Target is to shorten the rubber business chain, reduce leakages and increase transparency in rubber transactions as well as strengthening
smallholder unions through cooperatives.
In addition, she said, it can improve good agricultural practices and provide opportunities for
smallholders to enhance the added value of their products by
participating in the rubber
processing industry.
Eligible cooperatives and rubber traders will be assisted with technical support and financing.
“The ministry is very concerned about the issues related to rubber smallholders especially the economic gap they are facing and is always looking into ways to help them increase their incomes and improve their standards of living,” she added.
There are about 65,000 rubber smallholders in Kedah who
contribute about 30 per cent to the national rubber supply, which is the biggest producer in the country.
Kedah has an accumulated 93,000 ha of rubber plantations scattered mainly in Padang Terap, Sik, Baling
and Kubang Pasu districts cultivated by smallholders.
Zuraida added that Target was one of the projects spearheaded by the ministry via the Malaysian Rubber Board to create a sustainable income stream for rubber
smallholders by realising an integrated value chain of
commercial-scale rubber supply.
