■APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA
■The era of agricultural development in malaysia:
■ The early years (1960’s-70’s)
■ The awakening decade (70’s-80’s)
■ The ‘small dragon’ era (80’s and beyond)

Modern
Agriculture
Traditional
Agriculture
 The Early Years (1960-70s).
■ Indigenous Bumiputras are traditionally subsistence farmers
■ working on smallholdings not more than 5 hectares
■ usually planted with rubber, oil palm, fruits, padi, and other
miscellaneous crops
■ lands are either inherited or customary/ indigenous rights.
■ Colonials were owners of large rubber and oil palm plantations.
■ Indians : labourers in estates (rubber)
■ Chinese : middlemen for agricultural produce, grew cash crops,
raised animals such as pigs and poultry, and work on rented and
abandoned land owned by the Bumiputras.
 The Beginning of Colonial Rule:
Malay farmers marketing their products
in town. The Malays were granted land
titles in the hope they would stop
moving from place to place.
http://www.encyclopedia.com.my/volume7/colonial.html

Indians working in
estate under
supervision of planter
 The Awakening Decades (1970-80s).
■ Bumiputras continued to work on their smallholdings, many
migrated into new agricultural land development schemes
managed by government agencies
■ The Indians remained as estate workers although quite a number
have started raising cattles and goats
■ The Chinese, while remaining as middlemen, moved a step
further by opening rubber estates followed later by oil palm and
cocoa. They also intensified raising pigs and poultry which then
has become a big business.
 The “Small Dragon” Era (1980s and
beyond).
■ Starting mid 80’s
■ Robust economic growth was catalised by the
manufacturing sector
■ Guthries, Sime Darby, Dunlop (now IOI),
Harrison and Crossfield (now Golden Hope).
■ Malaysia is now the major world producers of
rubber and palm oil; IOI is the largest oil palm
in the world.
 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL
■
POLICY
NAP1 (84-91)
(NAP)
■ New agric. Land opened: oil palm, cocoa
■ Export crops
■ Expansion of manufacturing sector
■ NAP2 (1992-2010)
■ sustainable agriculture
■ expanding food production
■ agro-based industrial development
■ greater role of the private sector
■ biodiversity and conservation.

Autopot
System: An
eco-friendly
revolution of
conventional
irrigation and
fertilisation
 Fruit Processing Automation &
Malaysia’s First and Largest
Cold Room
Sustainable Agro Farm: An
ambitious sustainable agriculture
project is underway located in
Tanjung Tualang, Kinta Valley,
Perak – MoA signing ceremony:
8 July 2010
http://www.kamb.org.my/agrofarm/

Greenhouses
Communal Amenities –
accommodation for
agro-specialist
 ■ NAP3 (1998-2010)
■ 2 new approaches
■ i) agroforestry approach (eg: bamboo.rattan +
rubber tree)
■ ii) product-based approach

Some Species Used in Agroforestry (from left to right):

Swietenia macrophylla (Mahogany), Madhuca Latifolia
(Mahua) and Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Pers. (Kacang Turi)

http://giftingtrees.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

http://lms.sjp.ac.lk/fas/wordpress/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adaduitokla/6240489425/
 New agricultural sectors:
■ Fisheries involving coastal riverinemand deep
sea fishing activities have commenced, with new
new fishing harbours in Penang and Sarawak
opened.
■ Aquaculture activities in inland water bodies
have increased with cultivation of commercial
species. Mariculture has also expanded in islands
such as Langkawi. Recreational fisheries and
aquariums are new business ventures.
■ Tourism industry has been given a new lease of
life in the form of agrotourism involving tours
to forests, nature reserves, farms and
homestays.

Agrotourism: visits to farms and

other agricultural sites to
experience the various aspects of
farming and the rustic lifestyle at
close hand
http://www.tourism.gov.my/activities/?xtvt_id=21
Plan of Action Formulated To
Implement NAP3
Enhancing Food Security
■ expansion in domestic food production and
lesser dependence on imports
■ establishment of integrated cluster of
production, processing, marketing and
supporting services industry.
 Food Security (Collaborative Research by UK Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council, Malaysian government through
MARA, the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food
and Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation): The
tolerance of crops to partial or complete submergence is a
key target for global food security. Starved of oxygen, crops
cannot survive a flood for long periods of time, leading to
drastic reductions in yields for farmers.
http://www.futurity.org/science-technology/train-crops-to-survive-flood/

Germination of wild-type (Col-0)

and mutant plants under
reduced oxygen availability

Research article:
http://www.nature.com/nature/jo
urnal/v479/n7373/pdf/nature105
34.pdf
 How to enhance food security?
A) Enhance Domestic food production
■ Focusing production on major food products that are
cost competitive such as fishery products, selected
fruits, vegetables and livestock.
■ b) Zoning for food production areas.
■ Provision of infrastructure.
■ d) Promoting R & D and good agricultural practices
(GAP).
■ e) To increase yield and efficiency.
■ f) Establishing stronger linkages between producers
and the market.
B) Strategic sourcing
■ Facilitating joint venture with low-cost countries, for example
in the ASEAN Growth Areas and Mekong River Basin.
■ Government to government arrangement on supply of food to
the country
Improving marketing efficiency
■ Reducing market intermediaries with direct marketing and
contract farming.
■ Improving marketing infrastructure such as collection centre
and wholesale markets in production areas.
■ Improving marketing intelligence.
C) Improving marketing efficiency
■ Reducing market intermediaries with direct marketing and
contract farming.
■ Improving marketing infrastructure such as collection centre and
wholesale markets in production areas.
■ Improving marketing intelligence.
d). Increasing Productivity
■ New products and future industries
■ Focus on biotechnology products, extraction of chemicals
from biological resources, utilization of oil palm biomass,
flouricultural products, and aquarium fish.
■ Reducing labour in agriculture

■ Cultivation of new crops that require less labour such as

timber species, bamboo and rattan.
■ Promotion of controlled environment, automated and
mechanized systems such as hydroponics.
■ Intensification of R & D in labour-saving technologies in
harvesting and tapping.
■ Maximizing land resource use by:
■ Promoting agroforestry enterprises.
■ Integrating livestock with plantation crops.
■ Promoting large-scale, technology-intensive, mixed farming
ventures.
■ Increasing farm income
■ value added activities at farm level through
large scale commercial farming.
■ Maximizing utilization of agricultural wastes
and by-products such as oil palm empty fruit
bunches and padi straw
■ Promoting Private Sector Participation
■ Establishment of agrotechnology parks
■ Establishment of incubation centres
■ Providing private sector investment in
agriculture

MARDI
Agrotechnology
Park, Cameron
Highland
http://www.afifplc.com/2010/09/mardi-
agrotechnology-park-cameron.html
■ Enhancing Agricultural Export
■ International halal food hub
■ Market access
■ Direct marketing
■ Malaysia as a major regional distribution
centre (tropical floricultural products and
aquarium fish)
■ Malaysian own brand products
■ Human Resource Development
■Efforts will focused on producing more skill workers
(biotechnology, precision agriculture, mechanisation
and automation, sistems engineering and computer,
deep sea fishery, and animal husbandary )
AGRICULTURE EDUCATION
■ Universities, Colleges, Vocational Institutes,
■ In-service Training Centres in various
Ministeries (MARDI, FELDA, RISDA, FRIM)
■ Societies such as Incorporated Society of
Planters
Research and Development Institutions
1. Public Sector.
Malaysian Agricultural Research Development Institute
(MARDI), Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB), Malaysian Palm
Oil Board (MPOB), Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB),
Farmer’s Organisation Authority (FOA), Federal Agricultural
marketing Authority (FAMA), Fisheries Development
Authority of Malaysia (LKIM), Muda Agricultural
Development Authority (MADA), Kemubu Agricultural
Development Authority (KADA), Forest Research Institute
Malaysia (FRIM), Federal Land Development Authority
(FELDA) (Sungai Tekam), Malaysian Rubber Development
Board (MARDEC), and Veterinary Research Institute (VRI)
(Ipoh-ruminan, Johor Bahru-poultry), State Agricultural
Research Centre.
2. Private Sector.
■ Applied Agricultural Research Sdn. Bhd. (Sungai Buloh)
■ FELDA Tun Razak Agricultural Services Sdn. Bhd.
(Jerantut, Pahang),
■ United Plantation Research (Teluk Intan, Perak),
■ Applied Agricultural Research (Sungai Buloh, KLK &
Boustead)
■ DUPONT Malaysia Research (Prai, Penang)
■ Sime Darby EBOR Research (Klang, Selangor).
3. Non-Government Organisation.
■ Centre for Environment, Technology and
Development Malaysia (Cetdem Organic Farm,
Selangor),
■ Malaysian Environmental NGO (MENGO,
Selangor),
■ Malaysian Nature Society (MNS, KL),
■ Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre
(SEAFDEC, Terengganu).
 Extension Services
■ Transfer of technology (TOT) in agriculture from
research institutions to farmers.
■ TOT is principally the duty of the Department of
Agriculture (DoA),
■ Pusat Latihan dan Pembangunan Pengembangan (Telok
Chengai, Kedah), MARDI, MRB, MCB, FELDA,
Rubber Industries Smallholders Development
Authority (RISDA), MADA, KADA, LKIM, FAMA,
and National Association of Smallholders (NASH),
 Legislations and Policies
■ Pesticide Act (1974), Food Act (1983), Poison
Act (1952), Food Regulation (1985),
Environmental Quality Act (1974), and
Quarantine Act (1976).
■ Cartagena Protocol (May, 2000), concerned on
biosafety
■ ASEAN Policy on Zero Burning: promotes zero
burning by plantationand timber company
 ETP
■ Economic transformation Program
■ To turn Malaysia to high income economy by
2020
■ 12 National Key Economic Area (NKEA) have
been identify to boost malaysian economy
v
cvc

cvc
 Entry point project (EPP) under
NKEA Agriculture
■ High value herbal products
■ Production of swiflet nest (burung walit)

■ Seeweed farming in Sabah

■ Integrated cage aquaculture system

■ Rearing cattle in oil palm estates

■ Fruits and vegetables
(there are 16 EPPs. Find the others EPPs)
 NKEA Paddy Estate Project:
Padang Sejana and Alur Ganu
Paddy Field, Kepala Batas
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/2/23/north/10786645&
sec=north

Mini Estate Scheme on

Seaweed Cultivation: Listed as
the 3rd EPP under ETP and NKEA
in the agro-food sector
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/3/10/southneast/1087
4836&sec=southneast