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@ Forest | January-February , 2021
Making Malaysian agriculture truly sustainable
Agriculture needs to be made more appealing
Pale Blue Dot ...
By KHOO HOCK AUN
The government was expected to table the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 in March 2021 , focusing on high potential industries emphasising the green agenda . Undoubtedly , a significant focus will be on upgrading the agriculture sector through smart and sustainable farming .”
Malaysia ’ s most tremendous success in agriculture has been developing its oil palm value chain , arguably the most advanced in the world , built over six decades on the back of a century ’ s experience with management of the natural rubber industry . Although it initially expanded on land planted with rubber , it also , unfortunately , developed at the expense of the Malaysian rainforest and resultant loss of biodiversity .
Oil palm also occupies , as a mono-crop , 75 per cent of all land used for agriculture . It has edged out other potential crops , in terms of human resource , and monopolised agronomic and management talent for at least two generations . That has left little expertise for other crops .
While oil palm is a conventional input-intensive managed crop , compliance with sustainability standards has mitigated its negative environmental and social impacts . The opportunity in Malaysian oil palm is now to advance sustainability credentials as its compelling strategic competitive advantage .
This would mean reducing its heavy footprint in Malaysia through high technology applications such as using drones in upstream plantation agronomy and integrated downstream processing : enabling efficient resource use through precision technologies , optimising yields through mechanised harvesting methods , encouraging total waste and renewable energy utilisation , exhaustive exploitation of by-products , elimination of emissions and manifesting an entirely green value chain .
But in terms of Malaysian agriculture as a whole , it also means the golden crop will need to give way to diversification with other crops , in need of land and management talent , waiting in the wings for a place under the Malaysian sun .
The government was expected to table the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 in March 2021 , focusing on high potential industries emphasising the green agenda . Undoubtedly , a significant focus will be on upgrading the agriculture sector through smart and sustainable farming .
Modernising Malaysian agriculture requires the adoption of new technologies collectively known as “ Agtech ” which can comprise biotechnology , precision agriculture incorporating remote sensing , drones , robotics , intelligent sensor-based farming , advanced agricultural engineering and zero-waste processing .
Furthermore , making Malaysian agriculture truly sustainable requires adopting holistic regenerative approaches that balance environmental health with optimal yields . This requires a multidisciplinary approach which has not yet been brought to bear on the declared strategies .
Between the government departments , agencies , and government-linked companies ( GLCs ) in the sector , each mired with their past problems and legacy issues of failed projects , there is no real champion of high tech or sustainable agriculture drive the industry forward .
The corporate sector has been decidedly focused mainly on the commodity crops , especially in rubber , oil palm and some fruit crops adopting good agricultural practices which adhere to sustainability standards catering to market expectations .
Agriculture needs to be made more appealing
Among smallholder farms , usually family-owned and without depth in management and technology improvement , even in owner-operated farms , it is challenging to find well-run ones . Agriculture is hard work and requires a hands-on approach .
On the other hand , urban dwellers yearn to find patches of land to do their weekend farming but find a lack of access to land and resources to do so . There is great interest in being gentlemen farmers , especially in their retirement years . Of greater interest is growing organic , naturally farmed or chemical-free produce , having their own supply , an additional income stream or just a healthier lifestyle .
However , organising for modern agriculture faces the enormous challenge of finding the right people motivated to initiate , lead and manage high tech agriculture projects in Malaysia . Invariably the issue of labour will always crop up . Can high tech modern farms reduce the reliance on labour ? Maybe .
But high tech farms require trained skilled labour , and there is an even more significant shortage of qualified personnel .
In North Asia , advances in utilising fertilised farming , application drones , and vertical farming have succeeded only in intensive agriculture using high-value inputs for high-value crops . It may be conceivable that states where high land costs prevail such as in Selangor , Penang and Johore , smaller highly intensively cultivated farms may replace significant commodity crops such as oil palm .
A great compensator for the rural-urban drift is modern-day communications and 5G technology . As this facility is rolled out to rural areas , more may be persuaded to reside there and resist urban life ’ s temptations , especially given the higher costs of living . The youth is a prime target group to make agriculture attractive again and communications technology infused with big data analytics , and artificial intelligence has a role to play mostly with dashboard driven farm management applications .
Opportunities in high-value crops and meeting domestic demand
Every now and then certain new high-value crops are touted for their export potential such as durians and gaharu ( oud ). In durians , growers can find interested buyers in markets abroad in both fresh / frozen and processed form . If growers can complete the value chain , margins are much higher , such as durian and durianderived products in China .
The domestic demand for fresh vegetable , fruit , floriculture , herbal and livestock produce is ever-present , made more critical now with concerns over food security . Given a population of 34 million with a substantial food import bill of USD 12 billion ( approximately RM 50 billion ) annually , there are significant opportunities to grow crops to meet domestic demand in areas such as dairy , cocoa , sugar , beef and seafood .
Agriculture produce usually builds on their domestic market success before realising export potential . Typically supply chains built around hypermarkets can support contract farms for fresh produce . However , investors need to see a solid track record of growth in a sector that may be subject to all manner of risks .
The most critical shortcoming is the lack of a coherent Agtech ecosystem for cultivating entrepreneurial leadership , attracting severe investment , management and technical capacity building in Malaysia to foster high-tech and sustainable agriculture .
The Covid-19 pandemic downturn has spurred the government to allocate US $ 85 million ( RM350 million ) for subsidising micro agro-food production and to encourage urban farming . But if the above-stated issues are not addressed , these funds will basically be give-aways to the community for farming projects that might not be viable nor sustainable in the long run . — @ Forest
Khoo Hock Aun believes in encouraging thought leadership in sustainability innovation and achieving a fundamental green ethos shift in the business community .