The Kedah government today asked the federal government to review the Padi Cultivators (Control of Rent and Security of Tenure) Act 1967 to provide for maximum benefit to padi land owners and tenants.

Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said the act was no longer popular with farmers because the content of the agreement was considered outdated and no longer relevant to the current situation.

“The act has kind of lost its function and I understand that since its introduction in 1955, it has only been amended once, in 1967.

“The farmers prefer to draw up the agreement themselves,” he said at the presentation of compassionate funds to founding members of the Kedah Padi Planters Development Board at Wisma Darul Aman in Alor Setar.

Besides there being no uniformity in the rental rates, the agreement between the land owner and tenant was one-sided, he said.

Mukhriz advised the Kedah Padi Planters Federation to come forward with suggestions and ideas to continue to safeguard the interests of tenants and land owners.

Perhaps the federation could initiate a special seminar or forum on the matter, he said.

He also said that the government would always ensure that the agriculture was propelled into a high-income sector and brought good returns to the people.

As such, all pertinent departments and agencies should work hard to involve the entire value chain of the sector to increase the income of farmers, he added.

- Bernama