KOTA BHARU, Jan 15 —The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) will further spur the Khidmat Pemasaran Ladang Kontrak (KPLK) (Contract Farm Marketing Service) Programme to curb the involvement of middlemen and, thus, control the prices of vegetables and fruits.
Fama deputy director-general (Operations) Abd Rahman Mahmood said that, so far, 3,232 participants had joined the KPLK nationwide.
"Each year, we target 1,000 new participants and encourage more farmers to register with Fama.
"The KPLK acts as a producer and will directly market their respective products through agencies and to entrepreneurs (traders),” he said.
He said this at a press conference after visiting the Agro Madani sale with Kelantan Fama director Wan Faizatul Aniza Ismayatim at the Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) in Tunjong here today.
Elaborating, he said that if more participants registered under the KPLK programme, the prices of vegetables and fruits would be more controlled compared to now.
"The KPLK aims to curb the involvement of middlemen (and) that's why we want more farmers to register with Fama and other agencies because it will be able to collect data and crop yields.
"However, many of them (farmers) cultivate crops without complying with standards, resulting in them refusing to become KPLK participants,” he said.
- Bernama
