Padi farmers in Kedah are one unhappy lot. And they have very good reasons to be so.
The new padi planting cycle in the state began at the end of September and yet the padi farmers aren't able to lay their hands on certified seeds.
Seed merchants appear to be taking advantage of the "shortage" and selling the seeds at prices the farmers can't afford.
They have other woes, too, which are almost as old as the industry. Old or not, the laments of the farmers have fallen on deaf ears.
If the authorities do listen, they are either incapable of finding a solution or too slow for the growing season. Don't they know a growing season lasts only five months? Yet, they push the poor farmers to go for five growing seasons in two years.
Get real, people. Blaming the farmers, especially those in Kedah, must stop. The problems lie mostly elsewhere. With not enough seeds around, there may not even be two growing seasons. Go figure.
The shortage of padi seeds had become so bad that the Malaysian Padi Farmers Brotherhood (Pesawah, which means farmers in Malay) took their woes to the lawmakers in Kuala Lumpur.
Still, the issue persists. Beware, those who are tasked with resolving this and other issues faced by the farmers.
The seed issue alone will have a huge impact on the supply of local rice. Already, industry players are warning of shortages in the coming months.
The warning is perfectly logical: if there aren't enough seeds, what is there to plant? Miss the window and the rest of Malaysia can kiss one growing season goodbye.
Maybe another season, too. This isn't a hype of a plight. It is as real as the next plate of local white rice from Kedah.
Is there really a shortage of certified seeds? We don't think so. Otherwise, why are they being sold in the black market?
This is not just a seed disease. It is an egg and chicken disease as well. When prices are high, these things appear from nowhere.
Market manipulation is a growing Malaysian problem. Consider the certified seed supply. The government has set a ceiling price of RM45 per 20kg for certified seeds, but they are being sold as high as RM70, according to media reports.
In the black market, it is peddled at even higher prices, complain farmers to those who care to listen. Regulators have withdrawn some of licences of errant seed producers and merchants. They must make sure such greedy traders never get into any business again.
Industry players such as rice millers and marketers complain that the government's price cap of RM2.60 for local white rice is eroding their profit margin. If so, the government must cap it at a realistic price that takes into account the costs of all inputs from farm to fork. And the profit margin realised by this new pricing must not be merely for millers and marketers.
It must be shared with farmers, who of all the people in the rice supply chain put in the most work. They must be rewarded the most. As it is, they aren't. If not for the farmers, there won't be seed merchants, rice millers or marketers.