The supply of padi seeds through open tender this year is to ensure that only companies meeting the criteria to supply quality seeds are awarded the tender, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Noh Omar said today.

Previously, the tender for supply of padi seeds was carried out through direct negotiation and farmers complained of having received low quality seeds and the companies were found to have appointed third parties to supply the seeds, he said.

Under the open tender system, he said, the tender was advertised in the newspapers and each application was evaluated by three committees of the ministry.

"Each application should fulfil the criteria of a padi seed supplier and have the approvals of the Finance Committee and Technical Committee before being shortlisted by the Procurement Board Master Committee.

"However, it is surprising that when we introduced the open tender, which is more transparent, there were more protests," he told reporters after a 2013 budget seminar of the ministry at Putrajaya.

Noh was asked to comment on a report in a news portal recently that the ministry awarded a RM164.8-million tender to a seed supply company which had failed to meet the criteria.

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