CHAPTER 8 : AGRICULTURE & MALAYSIAN ECONOMY

Agriculture remains an important sector of Malaysia's economy, contributing 12 percent to the national GDP and providing employment for 16 percent of the population. The British established large-scale plantations and introduced new commercial crops (rubber in 1876, palm oil in 1917, and cocoa in the 1950s). 

The 3 main crops—rubber, palm oil, and cocoa—have dominated agricultural exports ever since, although the Malaysian share of the world's production of these crops declined steadily during the last 2 decades. In addition to these products, Malaysian farmers produce a number of fruits and vegetables for the domestic market, including bananas, coconuts, durian, pineapples, rice, rambutan (a red, oval fruit grown on a tree of the same name in Southeast Asia), and others. The Malaysian tropical climate is very favorable for the production of various exotic fruits and vegetables, especially since Peninsular Malaysia seldom experiences hurricanes or droughts.

As rice is a staple foodstuff in the everyday diet of Malaysians and is a symbol of traditional Malay culture, the production of rice, which stood at 1.94 million metric tons in 1998, plays an important part in the country's agriculture. However, the overall production of rice does not satisfy the country's needs, and Malaysia imports rice from neighboring Thailand and Vietnam.

CHAPTER 9: APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA

Approaches to agricultural development in Malaysia

1) Policies

•  National Agricultural Policy 1
•  National Agricultural Policy 2
•  National Agricultural Policy 3
•  National Agrofood Policy

2) Good Agriculture Practices

3) Organic farming

4) New agricultural sectors:

Fisheries involving deep sea fishing activities have commenced,with 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.

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) Strategic sourcing

Facilitating joint venture with low-cost countries, for example in the ASEAN Growth Areas and Mekong River Basin.

C) Improving marketing efficiency

 Reducing market intermediaries with direct marketing and contract farming

d) Increasing Productivity

 New products and future industries

The ETP Transformation Story

The Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) is a comprehensive effort that will transform Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020. 

- See more at: http://etp.pemandu.gov.my/#sthash.5R65EL2b.dpuf

Our beloved lecturer "Dr Natrah Fatin Mohd Ikhsan"

Dr Natrah Fatin Mohd Ikhsan, one of the two recipients of the 2012-2013 Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment, has completed a short programme at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) in Australia and is currently attached to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, United States.

Congratulation DR ^_^. PERFORM DR .wow!!!! amazing DR.

Dr Natrah obtained her BSc (Hons) in Biology and MSc in Aquatic Biotechnology from University Putra Malaysia. In 2011, she received her PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from the Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center, University of Ghent, Belgium.

She specialises in microbial ecology, particularly in understanding the interaction between bacteria and algae for aquaculture use. She is the author of various research articles in international peer-reviewed journals as well as several international and national conference proceedings.

She is also the project leader of several research grants from private and governmental bodies including the Yayasan Pak Rashid Grant, the MOSTI ScienceFund and the Knowledge Transfer Programme with the Aquaculture Industry. In addition, she is involved in international projects with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), collaborating with different scientists from different research institutions.

Currently, Dr Natrah is attached to the Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture and Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia.  She is also the treasurer of the Malaysian Fisheries Society.

For her Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment, Dr Natrah is researching on interaction between micro-organisms.

The attachment will allow her to build a sound fundamental research foundation that she believes is essential to producing strong applied research. Increased understanding of the latest modern molecular techniques and better data interpretation in microbial ecology gained from the institution will contribute to resolving current problems related to microbial ecology. The attachment will also allow her to exchange expertise and experiences with prominent microbial ecologists, and potentially bridge connections for future Asia Pacific collaborations.

Dr Natrah also hopes the knowledge shared will inspire and ignite a passion for science, especially amongst young Malaysians, and attract more Malaysians to be involved in agriculture.

We are very proud to be your student ^_^ ,thank you Dr . Good luck Dr.

CHAPTER 7 . INNOVATION AND CHALLENGES IN MALAYSIAN AGRICULTURE

INNOVATION AND CHALLENGES IN MALAYSIAN AGRICULTURE

Technological Innovation from Research Institutes

GOVERNMENT BODIES

1. MARDI
--Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute
--It is a is a government body in Malaysia under Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based  Industry (MOA).

2.Malaysian Palm Oil Board
--It is a government agency responsible for the promotion and development of the palm oil industry in Malaysia.
--It is one of agencies under Malaysia's Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities.

3. MCB
--Malaysian Cocoa Board
--It is a federal statutory research and development agency under the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Comodities (previously called Ministry of Primary Industries Malaysia). 

4. MRB
--Malaysian Rubber Board
--It is the custodian of the rubber industry in Malaysia.

UNIVERSITIES

1. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
2. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
3. Universiti Malaya (UM)

PRIVATE SECTORS

1. Sime Darby
2. IOI
3. FELDA ( Federal Land & Development Authority)
4. FELCRA (Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority)

Research and Innovation Technology

1. Oil Palm
--It is Malaysia's golden crop contributing about RM30 billion to its gross national product (GNP) annually.
--Improve the yield of oil palm to 35 tonnes fresh fruit bunches per hectare per year, using the Tenera hybrid bred from the crossing of Dura and Pisifera varieties in early years.

ADVANTAGES OF AJIB

1.    increase plant enzyme activities

2.    increase farmers' income

3.    increase pollen viability

4.    increase oil extraction ration (O.E.R)

2. Rubber

• The Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB)
• developed high yield and disease resistant clones producing >3,500kg rubber ha-1 yr1

·         new innovation in rubber tapping    

                                           

1.    puncture tapping or microtapping                                            

 - increased production of latex                                        

- produce yields with hormonal stimulation (Ethral) compare to conventional excision tapping.                     

2.    Latex-Timber Clone (LTC)                                                        

- different clones (eg: RRIM928, RRIM929)                                      

 - trunk harvested for timber industry                                                    

- vitamin E has also been extracted from the latex.

-current production is sustained at 750,000 million tonnes yr1.

3. Cocoa

• import from Indonesia to fulfill the requirement of the many processing factories.
• 2002 - Addition of biotechnology division of Malaysian Cocoa Board
• aim - to implement research and development in cocoa biotechnology as well as to provide services to the entire cocoa industry
• cocoa biotechnology research : a) agrobiotechnology to improve productivity and production efficiency b) biotechnology enhanced - quality of cocoa products with respect to safety and health c) industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology to obtain new products such as useful bioactive compound, associated microbes in the cocoa environment, cocoa waste and etc.

4. Paddy

• achieves ONLY 70 % self-sufficient in rice.
• major production centres (rice bowls) MADA (Kedah-Perlis), KADA (Kelantan), and Sawah Sempadan-Tanjung Karang (Selangor).
• Government aims to raise the yield to 10 ton ha-1 with the use of new technology.
• popular varieties :MR220, MR219, MR211, MR81.
• Malaysia will strive to achive 90% self-sufficient leve (SSL) in the near future.
• Vita-grow - paddy fertilizer                                                                              

a) a foliar fertilizer developed by UPM that contains complete and balanced plant nutrients that enhances growth of paddy, fruits, vegetable and etc.                                                                        

 b) specially formulated chemical fertilizer.                                        

 c) successful in doubling paddy yield and producing better.

• Zappa - UPM product that enhances rapid germination and tillering.   

--Zappa is another UPM product that enhances rapid germination and tillering.

5) Livestock

• grow at the rate of 3.1% per annum from RM 953million in 1995 to RM 1.1 billion in 2000.
• integration of livestock rearing in oil palm plantations.
• reducing management cost.
• land development agencies - FELDA, RISDA, FELCRA.
• Hybridization : new breed of beef cattle named BRAHMAS, a cross-breed between imported Brahman and local Kedah-Kelantan breed.
• more resistant to diseases.

    6) Fisheries

• Aquaculture is cultivation of natural produce of water such as fish, shellfish, algae and other aquatic organisms.
• It also known as aquafarming, the term is distinguished from fishing by the idea of active human effort.
•  The government is encouraging locals to adopt aquaculture by constructing ponds and raising fishes in net cages in rivers, lakes and sea shores.
• A rapid detection kit has been developed to detect white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) disease in prawns.

7)Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables

• Research has been conducted to improve commercial production of banana, pineapple, papaya, starfruits, mango, durian, watermelon, jackfruits, rambutan, and ciku.
• Flowers such as orchids is a growing industry.
• Mushroom which are strictly fungi but considered as ‘vegetables’ is a growing industry in Malaysia.

8) Bioagents

•  Innovations using biological organisms van be found in the form of biofertillizers such as Rhizobium and biocontrol agents.
• UPM has formulated naturally occurring antagonistic fungi, effective against diseases of vegetables.

   9) Precision Agriculture

• This is a new innovation in agriculture. It also known as ‘site specific management’.
• This approach has initially attracted the interest of the plantation sector.
•  It is being practised partly in oil palm and paddy growing areas.

 FUTURE CHALLENGERS IN AGRICULTURE

            There are several challenges now facing the agriculture industry:

1.               Labour

•    There are dependence of foreign labour with some estates employing 100% foreigners particularly those from Indonesia and Philippines.
•        Cost of labour has been rising steadily.
•       Local youths are less interested in agriculture, preferring to work in factories and offices.

          2.             Price

•          Increase in the price of fertilizers, seeds, tools, and equipment has effeted the cost of agriculture production.
•       Market price is also elastic and problematic at the times.

          3.            Crop Choice

•          Big conglomerates are not interested in agriculture other than planting oil palm and rubber.

           4.          Agricultural Technology

•          The benefit from prospecting and developing the potential and applications of new and frontier technology are not yet to be realized.

a)  The use of plant cell and tissue culture techniques as well as genetic engineering to complement conventional plant breeding in developing new crop varieties.

b)    The use of plant cell culture to enhance the development of new and innovative products including metabolites.

c)     The application of embryo manipulation technology

d)  The incorporation of robotics and artificial intelligence as well as computer modelling, including expert systems and computer simulated scenario analysis.

             5.          Resources

•          Resources have to be carefully managed in order that agriculture could be sustained.
•     The main challenges in the future is to enable continuous crop production with high yield per unit areas.
•      Land development will slowly encroach into fragile soils, especially peat and steep lands.
•      This result in soil degradation.
•     Water resources management is also an important issues as only 21% of the country heavy rainfall is being used currently.

https://www.facebook.com/667356516701737/videos/869693329801387/

CHAPTER 6 : SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

DEFINITION :
maintaining their productivity to society, irreversible damage to ecosystem health.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Farming that make profit 

Characteristcs involved are:

– Net financial worth of the family increase consistently through profit

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

involves keeping the four ecosystem processes in good conditon:

1. ENERGY FLOW

2. WATER CYCLE

Effective water cycle:

– lible soil erosion

– fast water entry into the soil

3. MINERAL CYCLE

A Well Functioning Mineral Cycle:

–The movement of nutrients from the soil to soil

4. Ecosystem Dynamics

TOOLS

Intercropping I

Crop rotation 

Cover crops 

Multi-species grazing

Monocropping 

Tillage 

Herbicides 

Insecticides

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM)

• a pest control strategy

that uses an array of complementary methods

BENEFIT OF COMPOST

• Destroys weed seeds and pathogens.

National agrofood Policy.

National agrofood policy has been develop by the Ministry of Agriculture Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shaberi Cheek and Agro-based industry Malaysia which was approved by the Malaysian cabinet on 28 September 2011 to replace the NAP3 (Third National Agricultural Policy). This policy cover the period between 2011 and 2020. Mainly addresses the issue of food supply in Malaysia based on consumer’s need for quality, safety, nutirition, functionality and environmental sustainablity

Focus : Enhancing food security

 Complement & strengthening value chain

 Increasing competitiveness    

 Sustainable development

The main objectives of the National Agrofood Policy (2011-2020) are:

·         to address food security and safety to ensure availability, affordability and accessibility;

·         to ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of the agro food industry; and

·         to increase the income level of agropreneurs.

Efforts taken to strengthen human capital and to ensure sufficient skilled labour force in the agriculture sector include:

• Encouraging the use of modern technology and mechanization to reduce the dependency on manpower;
• Strengthening the capacity of agriculture operators to adopt technology, mechanization and ICT through awareness campaigns and continuous trainings;

Among the initiatives taken to increase private investments in the agriculture sector include:

 Providing integrated infrastructure especially in the concentrated agriculture zone such as TKPM, ZIA and Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC);