ALOR STAR: Nearly 6,000 hectares of padi fields under the purview of the Muda Agriculture Development Authority (Mada) in Kedah and Perlis have been submerged by last week's floods.
Mada chairman Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh said Pendang is the hardest hit district, with the losses from the affected padi fields surpassing losses recorded during the 2010 major floods in Kedah.
"Our data showed that Sept 21 was the peak day, with 5,915 hectares (ha) of padi fields under Mada purview in both states submerged.
"Pendang which falls under Zone 3 is the worst affected with 2,481 ha of padi fields submerged, followed by Zone 4 with 1,636ha; Zone 2 with 1,603ha, and Zone 1 with 82ha," he said when contacted.
Mada oversees over 100,000 padi fields in Kedah and Perlis, with Kedah alone as the largest rice producer in the country, supplying over 40 per cent of the domestic demand for the staple food.
He said as of yesterday – the ninth day since flooding hit, over 3,000ha of padi fields in Kedah were still submerged, with 2,000ha located in Pendang.
"In 2010, Pendang was flooded because of a higher volume of floodwaters flowing down from rivers in Kuala Nerang and Anak Bukit to Sungai Pendang.
"However, I believe this time, the unusual amount of rainfall in Pendang itself has caused Sungai Pendang to breach its banks.
"No doubt, Pendang padi farmers have suffered heftier losses compared to 14 years ago," he said.
Dr Ismail, who visited the affected padi fields yesterday, said the floodwaters in Pendang have become stagnant, which may take up to two weeks to fully recede.
"The Sungai Pendang river current is too slow to flow down to Sungai Kedah, before reaching the sea. This is causing stagnant flooding in Pendang.
"That should explain why Sungai Pendang is the only river in Kedah still at its dangerous water level while the other rivers have returned to their respective normal levels.
Dr Ismail urged the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to deepen the Sungai Pendang riverbed and ensure all river streams and canals flowing into Sungai Pendang are free from clogging to prevent the disaster from recurring.
He said Mada is carrying out a detailed assessment on losses suffered by the farmers.
"Only 12 per cent of the total padi fields in Pendang managed to be harvested before the floods hit.
"Just imagine, the farmers are just between one or two weeks away from harvesting their precious crop. Now, they are completely wiped out," he said.
He added that the agency would forward the findings from the assessment to the Agriculture Department.
"The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry will then approve the compensation amount to be paid to the affected farmers.
"We will do our best to expedite the compensation payout process to ease the burden suffered by our farmers," he said.