Economy minister: RM200 advance paddy incentive reaches nearly 180,000 farmers

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Economy Minister Datuk Seri Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the government has introduced a one-off advance ploughing incentive of RM200 per hectare for paddy farmers in Peninsular Malaysia to support preparations for the first paddy planting season of 2026.

He said the payments, which began in phases on May 19, are aimed at reducing farmers’ initial capital burden and accelerating early planting preparations.

“To date, 90 per cent, or nearly 180,000 farmers, have received the payment,” he said during an online global supply crisis briefing today.

Reflecting on the past 100 days since the onset of the crisis in West Asia, he said Malaysia has managed global supply disruptions through a data-driven approach, cross-ministerial coordination and targeted interventions.

He said a total of 113 high-frequency indicators have been developed to support faster risk assessments and are now displayed on a global supply crisis monitoring dashboard covering economic, energy, food, commodity and logistics indicators.

In addition, he said food price monitoring continues through the PriceCatcher system, with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) tracking 316 essential items across more than 2,000 retail premises nationwide.

To date, he said 28 policy papers across 13 economic sectors have been discussed under the M10 mechanism.

“From these discussions, 126 decisions have been recorded, of which 15 have been fully implemented while 111 remain under active implementation as medium- and long-term measures.

“This demonstrates that M10 is not merely a discussion forum but a platform for action, where every decision is translated into implementation at the ministry and agency levels,” he added.