Agricultural Sector In Malaysia Research Articles

Potentiality of Pressmud Application in Soil for Palm Oil Plantation Productivity

The agricultural sector in Malaysia is predominantly comprised of the oil palm and sugar refinery industries. Approximately 50% of the materials generated during palm oil and sugar production would result in organic waste that contains a high content of lignin and cellulose. Waste generated from the sugarcane industry can be used as a resource of another, bringing economic and environmental benefits. This study aims to provide useful insights into using sugarcane waste to enhance the sustainability of the agriculture industry in Malaysia, specifically palm oil plantations. It can also enhance the green knowledge in soil technology for a sustainable agriculture industry in this country. Based on the physico-chemical characteristics examined in this study, pressmud evidently emerges as a promising material with significant potential to serve as an admixture medium in soil for palm oil plantations, leading to a reduction in the application of chemical fertilizer. This waste material displayed a coarse texture, compared to the less coarse texture of the laterite soil. Its texture and surface of the object exhibited irregularities and were covered with pores. Incorporating pressmud into the soil has improved its capability to adsorb nutrients by facilitating the cation exchange process. The efficacy of the laterite soil-press mud mixture as a soil amendment in palm oil plantations can be determined through its Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), a key indicator of its ability to improve soil performance and enhance production.

The relationship between the adoption of agricultural revolution 4.0 technology and business performance and sustainability in agro-food supply chain in Malaysia: a conceptual paper

The present study is based on the review of literature related to the adoption of Agricultural Revolution 4.0 (AR4.0) technology, business performance and sustainability dimensions. The new National Agro-food Policy 2.0 (DAN 2.0) was formulated to transform agriculture into a more dynamic, sustainable, and competitive industry in which the agro-food supply chain is one of the most important parts of the agricultural sector in Malaysia. In order to boost the agriculture sector’s competitiveness and sustainability, the sector is encouraged to fully utilize digital technology in agriculture. From this perspective, the adoption of the Agricultural Revolution (AR4.0) could provide numerous benefits, particularly in terms of enhancing the business performance for a sustainable agro-food supply chain. Thus, the business world today is moving towards “Digitalization 4.0” to focus on increasing the performance that will sustain the industry. Due to greater possibilities of economic, environmental, and social impacts along supply chain activities, the adoption of Agricultural Revolution 4.0 (AR4.0) into the industry supply chain is gaining more attention in the agricultural sector. The main objective of this study is hence to generate the conceptual framework between the relationship of adoption of Agricultural Revolution 4.0 (AR4.0) towards Agro-food supply chain (AFSC) business performances (flexibility, delivery, quality and cost) and AFSC sustainable agricultural performance encompassing economic, environmental and social dimensions in sustainability. The conceptual paper signifies providing academia with additional literature to use as a reference for future research. The findings of this research could help the agricultural industry to leverage Agricultural Revolution 4.0 (AR4.0) technology in order to boost their business performance. It will also be useful to policymakers in creating support mechanisms and plans to improve the overall performance of the firm.

Performance evaluation of cellular lightweight concrete using palm oil industrial waste as cement and fine aggregate replacement materials

Cellular lightweight concrete (CLC) or sometimes referred to as foamed concrete is widely used in construction for many decades. The foamed concrete properties include low density, as well as good thermal conductivity, high workability and self-compaction and these characteristics enable foamed concrete in many applications. This research deals with the properties of cellular lightweight concrete (foamed concrete) using wastes of palm oil industries namely, palm oil fuel ash (POFA) of 10% as cement replacement and palm oil clinker (POC) at 50% and 100% as sand replacement to develop 1200 kg/m3 foamed concrete. Six different mixes of foam concrete were prepared and various tests on fresh density, flow table, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), compressive strength, and splitting tensile conducted. The results show that the use of 10% of POFA as cement replacement and 50% of POC sand produced requisite strength for structural grade. For the mix with POC100POFA10, under air curing method, 10.3 MPa was the highest compressive strength was achieved; while, for the mix, POC50 under water curing method, the highest strength of 9 MPa obtained. In a nutshell, the byproduct palm oil industrial waste has a good contributing to the sustainable development of the construction industry as well as the agricultural sector in Malaysia and other oil palm growing countries of the world.

Factors Affecting Economic Performance and Willingness to Pay of Agricultural Entrepreneurs in Betong District, Sarawak

The agricultural sector in Malaysia exists in a dualism, shared between large conglomerates and smallholders who operate on small parcels of land. Unlike large conglomerates who own numerous plantations throughout Malaysia, smallholders, especially rural farmers are among the poor and they face various issues in maintaining and operating their business operations. Rising costs, low prices for agriculture produce, disease, lack of infrastructure and many others are among some of the challenges that are borne by smallholders. What are the factors that affect the economic performance of rural entrepreneurs? And would the entrepreneurs be willing to pay to improve the facilities surrounding their business operations? This study attempts to investigate not only the background of rural entrepreneurs in Sarawak’s Betong district, it also examined the factors that would affect the performance of the entrepreneurs and identify the amount that they are willing to pay to contribute to the improvement of the facilities surrounding their business operations. Primary data collection and cluster sampling method were used and questionnaire survey were distributed to targeted respondents i.e. agricultural entrepreneurs around the Betong District. The final analysis utilized 420 questionnaires which are analyzed using descriptive analysis, principal component analysis and rotated component matrix, This study found that majority of agricultural entrepreneurs are female, and are above 40 years old. Almost 90 per cent of them are local Bumiputera and 75 per cent are non-Muslim. Business operation and internal and external business relationship were found to be significant factors that affect the economic attainment of the entrepreneurs. Besides that, the entrepreneurs’ willingness to pay is found to be up to RM20.54 per month to the local council for the purpose of maintaining and improving the facilities surrounding their business operations. The findings from this study can be used as an estimate or benchmark figure by the local authority for collection/ fees from agricultural entrepreneurs and can be utilized for improvement and development of the Betong town centre and business area.

Adoption of IR4.0 into Agricultural Sector in Malaysia: Potential and Challenges

Agriculture remains as one of the important economic sectors in Malaysia which provides an employment for more than 1.6 million people. However, the growth of this sector may be hampered by a small-scale production, limited technological application, declining number of arable lands, environmental degradation due to climate change, rapid urbanization and aging farmers. In order to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, farmers are encouraged to fully utilise modern technologies in their farms. In this context, adoption of industrial revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) in agricultural sector could bring many benefits, especially in minimizing the production costs and improving the quality of the products. Thus, this review focuses on the adoption strategies of IR4.0 into agricultural sector in Malaysia. A suitability of enabling technologies such as IoT, autonomous robot, big data analytics and artificial intelligent which are pillars for IR4.0 are individually evaluated. The readiness of agricultural industry in Malaysia to embrace this new concept is also discussed. The review also investigates the potentials and possible challenges would be faced by the industry in embracing IR4.0. The recommendations are also provided for farmers, industrial players and policy makes to makes sure a smooth adoption of IR4.0 into agricultural sector in Malaysia.

Machine learning approach for estimating tree volume

With the forestry and logging activities contributing to 5.6% of the agricultural sector in Malaysia’s 2018 GDP growth, this had thus implied the forest as having a significant role in national growth and the critical need of a precise tree volume estimation. Although regression has been the most common method used for this form of estimation, the expansion of information technology had, however, led to the use of a machine learning technique that is capable of overcoming the issues posed by the regression analysis. In this paper, the estimation of the tree volume was not only conducted via the regression method but had also involved the use of two machine learning techniques, namely the artificial neural network (ANN) and that of the epsilon-Support Vector Regression (ε-SVR). By comparing the root mean square error (RMSE) and standard deviation (SD) values from each of the volume model that had been obtained in this study, the machine learning technique was thus found to have demonstrated a better precision and accuracy level than that of the regression method.

Development of K-Workers Employability Skills Measurements Indicators in Agricultural Sector in Malaysia

Issue of skilled and knowledge worker is an issue that [is] frequently discussed among agricultural training institutions and employers in the sector. It is viewed seriously by Malaysian government through Agrofood Policy 2011-2015 by emphasising agricultural workers that are highly skilled and knowledgeable to assist Malaysia achieves high-income developed nation status. However, what are the characteristics of those high skilled and knowledge workers? This question is the base of this research. By using qualitative approach, modified Delphi technique/method is chosen as the research framework. Eleven experts from various stakeholders such as agriculture lecturer, leaders of agricultural training institutions, agricultural instructor and agricultural industry employer in Malaysia. Finding reveals ten characteristics of [knowledge-workers] k-workers that are needed to enable them to have high employability skill in order to satisfy/fulfil national requirement of skilled workforce. This finding can be used as a measurement basis for employability skill level of labour market in agricultural sector in Malaysia.

Financial Problems among Farmers in Malaysia: Islamic Agricultural Finance as a Possible Solution

This paper attempts to look at the possibility of collaboration of Islamic agricultural finance in agricultural land development realizing the farmers’ financial problems during the case study and the government efforts in invigorating agricultural sector in Malaysia. Agricultural product and Loss Sharing (aPLS) which based on the contracts of al-muzara’a and al-musaqa from Islamic jurisprudence, partnership between the landowner and the farmer in brief, was highlighted in this paper. Agro Bank has the potential to employ Islamic agricultural finance realizing its roles in developing agricultural sector in Malaysia and its direction to be a full-fledged Islamic bank. The case study was carried out based on two methods that are interviews and questionnaire. These two methods have been used among the farmers under the one-off subsidy program by the Department of Agriculture in the selected six states in Malaysia. It was found that the farmers at the survey areas faced the financial problems during the second cycle cultivating yet the farmers have the capability in saving at the financial institutions. Thus, the main theme of this paper is that how Islamic agricultural finance can play a positive role and possible solutions to the farmers in Malaysia and eventually promoting agricultural development in Malaysia.

Climate change adaptation provisions for the agricultural sector in Malaysia

Malaysia has been experiencing an unusual harsh mixture of droughts and extreme rainfall events at present. As consequence, significant fall in crop production will be caused in the coming years. Current agriculture adaptation strategies are not significantly enough to cope with this issue. Therefore, this study aims to capture the scenarios in the field of climate change adaptation. The main focus of this study is to chalk out the adaptation efforts that the government and local stakeholders should consider. This study identifies the challenges associated with the implementation of adaptation options for the agricultural sector in response to climate change. Furthermore, this study presents some insight on the possible future strategies for adaptation that legislators may consider in designing and formulating the policy which may ultimately help the agricultural sector of Malaysia to be effective. Such adaptation framework actions and measures are adjudicated to assure cohesive participation of all concerned development bodies including government and non-government organisations along with local communities towards achieving the appropriate climate change response.

Properties of Gliricidia Wood (Gliricidia sepium) lntercropped with Cocoa (Theobroma cocoa) in Malaysia

Trees planted from agroforestry practices can become valuable resources in meeting the wood requirements of many nations. Gliricidia septum is an exotic species introduced to the agricultural sector in Malaysia mainly for providing shade for cocoa and coffee plantations. This study investigates its wood physical properties (specific gravity and moisture content) and fibre morphology (length, lumen diameter and cell wall thickness) of G.sepium at three intervals according to age groups (three, five and seven years of ages). Specific gravity (0.72) was significantly higher at seven years of age as compared to five (0.4 I) and three (0.35) years age group with a mean of 0.43 (p<0.05). Mean moisture content was 58.3% with no significant difference existing between the tree age groups. Fibre diameter (22.4 mm) was significantly lower (p<0.05) for the trees which were three years of age when compared to five and seven years age groups (26.6 mm and 24. 7 mm), respectively. Means of fibre length, lumen diameter and cell wall thickness were 0.83 mm, 18.3 mm, and 6.2 mm, respectively,, with no significant differences detected between trees in all age groups. Further calculation on the coefficient of suppleness and runkel ratio suggest that wood from G.sepium may have the potential for insulation board manufacturing and paper making. However, future studies should experiment the utilisation of this species for these products to determine its full potential.

Properties of Gliricidia Wood (Gliricidia sepium) lntercropped with Cocoa (Theobroma cocoa) in Malaysia

Trees planted from agroforestry practices can become valuable resources in meeting the wood requirements of many nations. Gliricidia sepium is an exotic species introduced to the agricultural sector in Malaysia mainly for providing shade for cocoa and coffee plantations. This study investigates its wood physical properties (specific gravity and moisture content) and fibre morphology (length, lumen diameter and cell wall thickness) of G. sepium at three intervals according to age groups ( three, five and seven years of ages). Specific gravity (0.72) was significantly higher at seven years ofage as compared to five (0.41) and three (0.35) years age group with a mean of 0.43 (p<0.05). Mean moisture content was 58.3% with no significant difference existing between the tree age groups. Fibre diameter (22.4 mm) was significantly lower (p<0.05) for the trees which were three years of age when compared to five and seven years age groups (26.6 mm and 24. 7 mm), respectively. Means of fibre length, lumen diameter and cell wall thickness were 0.83 mm, 18.3 mm, and 6.2 mm, respectively, with no significant differences detected between trees in all age groups. Further calculation on the coefficient of suppleness and runkel ratio suggest that wood from G.sepium may have the potential for insulation board manufacturing and paper making. However, future studies should experiment the utilisation of this species for these products to determine its full potential.

Farmers’ Practices in Developing Agricultural Land in Malaysia: Is there an Islamic Microfinance Solution?

Objective – This paper attempts to highlight the farmers’ lives in Malaysia and their problems in developing idle agricultural land. Methods - This paper is using descriptive and exploratory method of study which refer to the situation of agricultural sector in Malaysia. Results - The scheme aPLS (agricultural production and loss sharing) that proposed cannot stand alone in the traditional fiqh to be implemented now. Therefore, the combinations of aPLS contract with ujrah principle are really needed. This is important to ensure the flexibility of the contract that can offer a fully comprehensive scheme of Islamic agricultural finance. Conclusion – The land together with labour can be considered as a form of capital and therefore has a similarity to the contracts of mudaraba and musharaka . Hence, it can be said that these principles are “agricultural production and loss sharing (aPLS)” because land will naturally produce an output or a product. Muzara’a and musaqa therefore can be said to be contracts which are based on sharing output rather than sharing profit. Keywords: Idle Agricultural Land, Islamic agricultural finance, Malaysia

Relationship between Decision-Making Inputs and Productivity among Paddy Farmers‟ in Integrated Agriculture Development Areas (IADAs), in Malaysia

The Malaysian paddy rice industry has always been considered as an industry that produces an important commodity which is the main staple food for the nation. The government, during the Tenth Malaysian Plan (2011-2015) period, set a target for every paddy farmer of 10 mt/ha, to ensure that the availability and accessibility of rice are maintained and sufficient. However, the latest production numbers from 2011 revealed that the average production per farmer from the main granary areas was still only 4.77 mt/ha, while in certain parts of the country - such as in the state of Selangor - farmers achieved up to 12 mt/ha. What is the cause of this disparity in production? Despite similarities in facilities, land area and resources, major differences remain in production. Although a multitude of factors could be relevant to this situation, this study aimed to focus on factors influencing the decisionmaking of farmers in correlation with farmers’ productivity. Nine (9) factors were identified that could contribute towards higher paddy productivity. The findings showed a positive and significant relationship between farmers’ productivity and knowledge about paddy (r = 0.159, p < .01), and a negative relationship with age (r= -0.148, p < .01). Hence, having knowledge about paddy farming and being young were the two factors most highly correlated with higher productivity in paddy. These results are an important first step towards understanding factors that could make the agricultural sector in Malaysia more sustainable by increasing the productivity of paddy farmers and increasing the supply of the national staple food.

An application of energy and exergy analysis in agricultural sector of Malaysia

Thermodynamic losses usually take place in machineries used for agricultural activities. Therefore, it is important to identify and quantify the losses in order to devise strategies or policies to reduce them. An exergy analysis is a tool that can identify the losses occurred in any sector. In this study, an analysis has been carried out to estimate energy and exergy consumption of the agricultural sector in Malaysia. Energy and exergy efficiencies have been determined for the devices used in the agricultural sector of Malaysia, where petrol, diesel and fuel oil are used to run the machineries. Energy and exergy flow diagrams for the overall efficiencies of Malaysian agricultural sector are presented as well. The average overall energy and exergy efficiencies of this sector were found to be 22% and 20.728%, respectively, within the period from 1991 to 2009. These figures were found to be lower than those of Norway but higher than Turkey.

Climate Change Adaptation Policy Guidelines for Agricultural Sector in Malaysia

Climate Projection shows the impacts of climate change on agricultural sustainability and relevant livelihood sustainability is vulnerable in Malaysia. Here mitigation is necessary but adapting to future risk is more important for immediate and long term action relating to the larger number of stakeholders in local scale. Generally adaptation policy has different levels and approaches that related with different challenges. Several countries have already prepared their adaptation approaches in their own way. Malaysia is on the way to develop its adaptation policy for last couple of years. This paper focuses on few guidelines that need to examine carefully while determining the climatic change adaptation approach for agricultural sector in Malaysia.

Economic Reforms and Agricultural Development in Malaysia

Despite the significant growth of the agricultural sector in Malaysia over the last three decades, the incidence of poverty continues to remain high among the target agricultural groups of food crop farmers, export crop smallholders and fishermen. This is because the overall effect of macroeconomic policies promoted the growth of the industrial, mainly manufacturing, sector and to discourage the growth of the agricultural sector. Various measures have now been put in place by the government to dampen the unfavourable effect of industrialization on agricultural development and to create a favourable environment for greater capital investment in the primary sector These include technological improvement and mechanization; reducing over-dependence on foreign unskilled farm labour; removal of export duties on agricultural commodities; farm diversification and land reform. These will be supported further by strategies and programmes aimed at improving farm level conditions to enhance factor productivity and efficiency, commercially-oriented activities and high value enterprises. Introduction The quest for rapid economic growth and development constitutes a major policy objective of many developing countries including the emerging transitional economies of mainland Southeast Asia. In these countries agriculture and economic growth are inextricably linked. Since agriculture accounts for a significantly large share of national output and income, it plays a vital role in determining their rate of growth. The advent of the flying geese pattern of development has created further implications for agriculture in the developing countries. In this industrialization process a number of them appear to have successfully adopted a strategy of entering into sectors (predominantly industrial and service sectors) where they have a rising comparative advantage in some cost terms, and importing technology from an already mature economy whose comparative advantage in those sectors seems to be on the decline. This transformation is not always smooth but involves frictions in adjustment, in particular that of agriculture. In this context, a major policy concern would be to ensure that agricultural growth can be sustained in the light of economic adjustments following the changing dynamic comparative advantage. This article elucidates the economic reforms and agricultural development in Malaysia. Essentially, it attempts to determine how, and to what extent macro policies that have been implemented to support economic reforms through industrialization and economic diversification have implicated the agricultural sector. The manner in which these policies have impinged on agriculture, and the way their repercussions have been factored in agricultural development and planning would be of particular interest to other developing countries which are undergoing, or aspire to embark on, a similar process of economic reform. It is hoped that this article can provide useful lessons for the design of agricultural development policies that are commensurate with the national plans of these countries. Development Planning and Policy Malaysia adopted a laissez-faire economic system in the 1950s and the 1960s. The private sector constituted the engine of growth, while the government sector tended to undertake investment in social and physical capital. The inception of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971 saw a more interventionist role of the government in the economy. The primary objective of the NEP was national unity and this was to be achieved via a two-pronged strategy of eradication of poverty and restructuring of society. The implementation of the NEP thus saw a more direct role of the public sector in agriculture, where the incidence of poverty was high. It also saw the implementation of a series of policies affecting equity, ownership and employment in the private sector as well as the establishment of public enterprises. …