While appreciative of the new floor price, PeSawah chairman Abdul Rashid Yob said it was still insufficient to tide over the hike in the operating costs of padi farmers.

He urged agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu to review the group’s demands, including for the floor price to be fixed at RM1,800 instead.

Rashid said the root of the issue on padi subsidies was that the price of local white rice had not been reviewed for 17 years, remaining at RM2.60 per kg since 2008.

“We believe that a RM1,800 floor price is reasonable. It takes into account the hike in the cost of living as well as seeds, and other challenges farmers meet.

“We propose that a RM300 incentive be given to farmers on top of the new floor price, and for the ceiling price of padi seeds to be lowered from RM58 currently to RM35.

“We are the backbone of the nation’s food production. If we are not adequately supported, how can we continue producing padi to fulfil the demands of Malaysians?” he said in a statement.

Earlier, Mohamad said the RM1,500 padi floor price adjustment took into account the rising costs of wages and agricultural input such as fertilisers and pesticides, as well as the impact on rice production costs.

The floor price was adjusted to RM1,300 in 2024, after being fixed for over a decade at RM1,200.

He also said the ceiling price of RM2.60 per kg for locally produced white rice would remain, and would be reviewed in six months.