THE government will consolidate Felda settlers’ land and vary up the crops planted to boost the group’s income, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The prime minister said the old practice of allocating 4ha plots to grow oil palm and rubber is no longer viable, as the commodities’ fluctuating prices have hurt smallholders’ earnings.

“Misappropriation by the previous Felda management compounded settlers’ income woes, and for these reasons, the government had to hand out subsidies,” he said at a Settlers’ Day event at Felda Selancar 3 in Muadzam Shah, Rompin, today.

He said the decision to consolidate settlers’ land is based on the observation that large foreign-owned estates continue to make a profit despite falling palm oil and rubber prices.

“They are able to do so because of the size of their land, as well as their ability to diversify their crops.

“Having observed this, the government will consolidate Felda land into a big estate, to be run by professionals.

“Settlers can work on this estate or get their share of the profit from the crops planted.” – July 7, 2019.

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