Penang Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Rural Development and Health Exco chairman Dr Afif Bahardin (right) showing one of the paddy fields which had dried up due to the heatwave. Pix by ZULAIKHA ZAINUZMAN.
Penang Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Rural Development and Health Exco chairman Dr Afif Bahardin (right) showing one of the paddy fields which had dried up due to the heatwave. Pix by ZULAIKHA ZAINUZMAN.

BUTTERWORTH: Cloud-seeding will be conducted in the Seberang Perai Utara district to save paddy fields from drying up.

State Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Rural Development and Health Exco chairman Dr Afif Bahardin said the move was to help farmers with paddy fields that were drying up due to El Nino.

"The heat wave has caused the paddy fields in the SPU district to be non-functioning lately.

"We have supplied as much water as we can from the river and it is not sufficient to sustain crop development.

"Thus, we need the federal government's green light and support to implement the move but its success depends on the availability and type of clouds," he said, adding that cloud-seeding cannot be done in Penang but only in neighbouring state Kedah.