BELURAN: Solutions are being sought to help farmers and livestock breeders affected by the rising costs of fertilisers and pesticides, says Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.

       The Agriculture and Food Industries Minister said that as an immediate response, the government had allocated RM232mil and raised farmers’ pesticide aid subsidy from RM200 to RM300 per hectare per season.

       “This, of course, doesn’t solve the issue of rising prices for pesticides and fertilisers. So, the government is trying to take steps to ease the burden of agricultural entrepreneurs.“What we are facing now is a challenging situation as prices have gone up for components of fertilisers and pesticides, as well as components of animal feed.

       “This is a global issue caused by disruptions to the production of these materials at the international level,” he told Bernama after launching the Ceria Ke Sekolah programme by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) here yesterday.

       Kiandee acknowledged that the rising costs of these materials were affecting the prices of vegetables in the market.

       On Nov 25, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob directed the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to formulate mitigation steps to address this issue.

       On the SESB programme, Kiandee praised corporate companies for stepping forward to provide aid to the rural community, especially those affected by the pandemic.