Kuala lumpur: The government has earmarked RM38.3 million this year to reinvigorate rubber plantations under the Abandoned Rubber Programme (PGT), positively impacting nearly 8,890 smallholders across the country, as revealed in the Dewan Rakyat today.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Rubiah Wang stated that 218 smallholders in Sarawak, particularly in Betong, have benefited from this initiative, with a total allocation of RM1.5 million. The ministry, through RISDA (Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority), has identified mature but untapped rubber plantations in Sarawak, guided by the 2023 RISDA Census Report. The report highlights a total area of 94,800 hectares involving 63,000 smallholders, with 793 hectares already reactivated through the PGT as of September 2025.
Datuk Rubiah Wang was responding to an inquiry from Datuk Dr Richard Rapu @ Aman Begri (GPS-Betong) regarding the ministry's long-term strategies to ensure the reactivation of mature but untapped rubber plantations in Sarawak through the 2025 PGT and beyond, including productivity targets for the next five to ten years, along with strategies for rubber price and market support.
Rubiah assured that the PGT would be further fortified under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), aiming to reactivate 3,100 hectares of untapped rubber plantations in Sarawak, approximately 625 hectares annually, to enhance sustainable rubber production. This effort is expected to boost rubber production sustainably over the next five to ten years.
Additionally, RISDA is broadening its group sales method and launching the Mobile Rubber Marketing Programme (PGB), involving five vehicles in Sarawak, with plans to add two more under the 13MP, ensuring fairer prices for smallholders. In response to a supplementary question from Richard about current initiatives to motivate smallholders to return to rubber cultivation, Rubiah mentioned the government's various incentives and support, including the Abandoned Rubber Plantation Recovery Programme. This program offers assistance such as fertilisers, herbicides, a tapping tools set, and plantation maintenance worth RM3,600 per hectare, managed through RISDA's subsidiary, RISDA Plantation Sdn Bhd.
Rubiah emphasized the ongoing efforts to enhance the income of rubber smallholders, including the introduction of a RM3 incentive ceiling price and monsoon season aid. She also mentioned that the ministry plans to propose new measures to the government to increase the productivity value per hectare of smallholder-operated rubber plantations, thereby boosting their yields and income. She expressed confidence that these proposals would lead to increased rubber output and encourage smallholders to continue cultivating rubber.