NewzPahim Mahmud mengusahakan tanaman maman sejak 23 tahun lalu.TAMPIN: Selama 23 tahun mengusahakan kebun sayur maman di Kampung Geduk Sawah, Pahim Mahmud tidak pernah berdepan cabaran seteruk ketika krisis ekonomi global baru-baru ini.Pekebun berusia 63 tahun itu berkata, kenaikan harga bahan api dunia bukan sahaja meningkatkan kos diesel, malah turut menyebabkan harga baja dan racun import melambung."Saya terpaksa berbelanja lebih untuk pembelian minyak (diesel) dan juga baja. Kalau tak ada minyak macam mana saya nak hidupkan enjin untuk pam air?" katanya kepada FMT.Pahim terpaksa mengeluarkan kos dua hingga tiga kali ganda berbanding sebelum ini untuk membeli diesel bagi menghidupkan enjin pam yang menjadi sistem pengairan renjis di kebunnya.Tanpa bekalan air mencukupi, tanaman maman berisiko rosak sekali gus menjejaskan sumber pendapatan keluarganya.Beliau berkata, permintaan terhadap sayur maman yang pernah mencecah enam tan sempena Aidilfitri 2024 turut merosot ketika krisis apabila jualannya susut kepada kira-kira 2,000kg.Bagaimanapun, keadaan berubah selepas Pahim tersenarai sebagai penerima subsidi diesel bersasar menerusi Skim Budi Agri-Komoditi, iaitu inisiatif bantuan tunai kerajaan kepada petani, pekebun dan penternak kecil bagi mengurangkan kesan kenaikan harga diesel pasaran.Pahim memanfaatkan Skim Budi Agri-Komoditi untuk pam air di kebunnya.“Sejak mula menerima skim ini, saya dapat beli diesel pada harga lebih murah untuk kebun berskala 10 ekar,” katanya.Menurutnya, bantuan itu membolehkan kos operasi bulanan dikurangkan daripada RM600 kepada RM400.Katanya, harga yang kembali stabil bukan sahaja membantu memulihkan operasinya, malah turut memberi kelegaan kepada peladang lain yang sebelum ini terpaksa memperlahankan aktiviti pertanian akibat kekangan kewangan.“Dengan krisis global yang sudah reda sekarang, dah legalah. Harga pun dah turun jadi stabil semula, saya boleh tersenyumlah dengan keadaan harga yang tak terlalu tinggi,” katanya yang turut mengusahakan produk hiliran rendang maman sejuk beku.April lalu, Kementerian Kewangan mengumumkan bantuan Skim Budi Agri-Komoditi dinaikkan daripada RM300 kepada RM400 sebulan, yang dijangka memanfaatkan 200,000 petani dan pekebun kecil dengan tambahan peruntukan kira-kira RM20 juta sebulan.Selain itu, Pahim turut aktif menyertai Jualan Agro Madani anjuran Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang (LPP) bagi memasa…
For Pahim Mahmud, the assistance extended to him through Budi Agri-Komoditi has lifted some of the pressure from the increase in the price of diesel.TAMPIN: For Pahim Mahmud, the increase in fuel prices as a result of the Gulf conflict was the biggest challenge he had faced in his 23 years as a vegetable farmer.Not only had the price of diesel risen, but the cost of fertilisers and pesticides also soared, putting pressure on the 63-year-old farmer in Kampung Geduk Sawah, Negeri Sembilan.He had to spend two to three times more just on diesel without which he would not have been able to operate the engine that powers the sprinkler in the irrigation system at his farm, Pahim told FMT.He said that without sufficient water, his maman crop could be damaged, and his family’s source of income would be affected.Fortunately for him, help arrived — in the form of the Budi Agri-Komoditi scheme, under which small farmers, planters and livestock breeders are given cash aid to reduce the impact of higher market prices for diesel.“Since I started receiving assistance under the scheme, it has helped to offset the cost of diesel for my farm,” he said.Pahim owns a 10-acre farm where he grows several crops, with maman planted on two acres. Maman is a local vegetable that has become a popular cash crop.He said the assistance has helped to reduce his monthly expenditure on diesel from RM600 to RM400, helping him and other farmers like him to restore their operations.“It is a relief for us. I know of farmers who had been forced to cut back on their farming activities because of the financial constraints,” he said.In April, the finance ministry announced that aid under Budi Agri-Komoditi would be raised from RM300 to RM400 a month.
It is expected to benefit 200,000 farmers and smallholders. Under the scheme an additional allocation of about RM20 million a month has been set aside for them.Pahim said that as the global crisis eases now, it has brought him relief. “Prices have gone down and become stable again, so I can smile knowing they are no longer too high,” said Pahim, who also produces frozen rendang maman as a downstream product.However, he said, the demand for maman has also dropped.
“During Aidilfitri in 2024, I managed to sell six tonnes of the vegetables, but this year, sales have fallen to just about two tonnes,” he said.The Farmers’ Organisation Authority has stepped i…
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