TAMBUNAN: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry, Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan, said a total of 480 ploughing and 480 harvesting machines are needed to harvest the 24,013 hectares of paddy fields in the State.
However, he said only 211 ploughing and 143 harvesting machines are actively operating in the State and this shortage caused the paddy machines to operate below the optimum level.
“One of the negative impacts due to the lack of paddy machinery is that paddy fields will decrease.
“For example, in the Tambunan district it shows a decrease in paddy fields in 2022 by at least 30pc-40pc.