RUBBER SMALLHOLDERS CAN EARN ADDITIONAL INCOME OF UP TO RM350 A MONTH WITH THE INCREASE IN IPG - MRB

Rubber smallholders are expected to earn an additional income of between RM300 and RM350 per month with the initiative to increase the activation price of the Rubber Production Incentive (IPG) to RM3 per kilogramme (kg) announced in Budget 2024.

Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) director-general Datuk Zairossani Mohd Nor said the expected additional income was for a two-hectare farm.

“Additional income depends on production costs. Every kilo of rubber produced has a production cost, we want to make sure they earn more than the cost through the IPG initiative.

“With a land area of two hectares, their average annual income is about RM3,000," he told the media after the launch of the Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) Commercialisation Matching Day 2023 on 20th October.

He said that with the IPG, their average total income can increase from RM1,900 to RM2,500 per month for the tapper and owner category.

Zairossani said this latest IPG activation price increase is the result of the fifth revision since 2015 and it benefits more than 270,000 eligible rubber smallholders.

He said the authorities and the government will conduct a review from time to time to ensure the rubber industry remains strong, in addition to increasing the productivity of the country's rubber output.

Meanwhile, Zairossani said MRB has developed the RRIMniaga application for the use of rubber traders licensed with the agency to carry out commodity transactions online.

"At the initial stage of IPG, we use the incentive claim process manually, rubber smallholders have to fill in a form. With the current business RRIM system, the process is done automatically, the sale of rubber is recorded in the system and IPG is paid directly to smallholders at the end of the month to avoid the issue of delays in them receiving payment," he said.