ALOR STAR: Between five and 10 per cent of padi fields under the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) have been inundated by floods triggered by continuous heavy rain and high tides over the past few days.
Malaysian Padi Farmers Brotherhood Organisation (Pesawah) chairman Abdul Rashid Yob said although nearly 90 per cent of the planting areas had been harvested, the remaining unharvested plots and newly seeded fields were now suffering losses.
He said the confluence of heavy rain and high tides choked drainage channels and prevented water from flowing into the sea, submerging padi plots, particularly in Mada Region Three in Pendang and Phase One areas in Yan.
"When unharvested padi remains submerged for two to three days, it rots, resulting in heavy losses for farmers. In fact, some areas in Yan where seeding for the new season had just finished were also submerged.
