In Kedah, Malaysia's rice bowl, paddy fields unfurl as far as the eye can see. Farmers roam the sticky clay-like soil, diligently following the rhythms of sunrise, sunset and monsoon as they have ...

At present, there are about 300,000 padi farmers in the country with about 60,000 of them based in Kedah, according to Abdul Rashid. On water supply to the fields, he said it was still sufficient.

“The key issue is productivity, as the gap between rice yields in Selangor and Kedah is too wide ... technology and initiatives such as the Ala Sekinchan Large-Scale Smart Paddy Field (SMART SBB) and ...