INTRODUCTION

What is AGRICULTURE ?
AGRICULTURE is derived from two words:
AGRI: from Latin word, Ager = Field
CULTURE: Latin Cultura = cultivation/tillage of the soil

IN MODERN CONTEXT:
AGRICULTURE: a practice of cultivating the soil,
systematic production of crops for food, feed and
fiber, and raising of livestock, and at the same time
protecting the soil from deterioration and misuse.

AGRICULTURE is the science and art of producing crops and

rearing of livestock (including fish) which are main sources of
FOOD for human consumption.
The crops, livestock and fish are managed:
- under human supervision
- in a specific location
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ALWAYS GO HAND IN HAND.
Even an international body, FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization) deals together in food and agriculture.
FAO: World body under the UN, set up to monitor food supply and
agriculture activities in many parts of the world.

DEVELOPMENT
OF AGRICULTURE
IN GENERAL

 During olden days (the stone age), agriculture was:

o very primitive the natives (cavemen) obtained their
food by hunting wild animals and fish, collecting fruits
and berries in the jungle since crops were not planted
and animals were not reared.
As times go by:
o shifting cultivation was practiced in which jungle trees
were felled and burned and crops planted using
primitive methods. After the crop was harvested the
natives shifted to a new area.
o slash and burn method was carried out.
Now:
o Agriculture and crop cultivation has transformed into
modernized venture with sophisticated machine and
automation being used for planting, irrigation and
harvesting.

 There is upward trends in agriculture

revolution as human beings become more

civilized.
Agriculture changes from traditional
methods to a modern industry.
Nowadays, agriculture contributes to the
countrys revenue and considered as a 3 rd
engine of growth for Malaysia....contributing
to the national development.

 Practices in agriculture can be broadly

categorized into:

(a) subsistence farming

(b) commercialized farming.

1. Subsistence Farming: traditional agriculture

Characteristics:
Low input & Low yield
Practice inter-cropping
Slash and burn and leave
to a new place (nomadic/
shifting cultivation)
Low external input (e.g. no fertilizer application).
Produce enough food to feed the family
No surplus PRODUCTS to sell or for storage for long
term use.

Subsistence farming..
Can be shifting or non-shifting cultivation

SHIFTING CULTIVATION
Most primitive form of agriculture usually practiced by

native dwellers.
A new jungle area is opened for crop planting.
Once the soil fertility declines, the native dwellers
abandon the land and shift to a new area.
Some improvements occurred: native dwellers work
permanently on the land that has undergone slash &
burn cultivation. Still poor in nutrients, thus crop
yields are low.
Some farmers start raising domesticated livestock for
food in small enclosures or limited free range grazing
land for the animals to roam about as practiced at
long-houses in Sarawak.

Subsistence farming..

Currently, subsistence farming is still practiced in

remote areas in the following regions/countries:
Africa Benin, Botswana, Congo, Guinea, Rwanda,
Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Zambia.
Central and South America Mexico, Ecuador and
Bolivia.
Europe Yugoslavia and Albania.
Polynesia Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu.
SE-Asia Sarawak, Sabah, Indonesian Borneo, Laos
and Cambodia.

2. Commercialized Farming
Modern agriculture is commercialized
farming
Characteristics:
Plantation crops, planted on a large or
commercial scale.
Use of high yielding, modern varieties or clones.
Large chemical inputs (heavy usage of
pesticides & fertilizers).
Use of modern facilities, high technology, and
dependent on machines for planting, crop
maintenance and harvesting.

Tropical
Plantation
Agriculture

Medicinal plants

Vegetable
Farming

COMMERCIALISED FARMING

Hydroponics/
Urban horticulture

Aquaculture
Floriculture

Poultry and livestock

Farming

Commercialized Farming
Tropical Plantation Agriculture
Mono-cropping: planting only one crop spp. E.g.
rubber, oil palm, cocoa, coffee, tea or coconut in a
land area.
- These crops are suitable for humid tropical climate
- Yields are processed and exported to industrialized
nations for the manufacture of industrial products.

Crop-livestock integrated farming

- practiced by private organizations & state owned
companies.
- Livestock are reared on free range grazing or
reared under shelters (feed-lot system) or grazing
on open pastures within enclosures/fences in the
plantation crop

Rubber

Oil palm

The perennial crops

Cocoa

Tea

Crop-livestock integrated farming

AGRICULTURE SECTOR
The three major components of
agriculture:

Crops

Livestock

Fisheries

Crops, Livestock & Fisheries FOOD

CROPS
The crop components can be divided into several
important groups, according to usage. Some of the crop
groups are:
i)* The food crops: e.g.: paddy, maize, sago, tapioca, sweet
potatoes. [In temperate region: wheat, barley, oats, rye,
potatoes]
ii)* Industrial crops (for industrial uses): oil palm, rubber,
cocoa, coconut etc).
- Also known as plantation crops
iii)* The horticulture crops: fruits, vegetables, flowers,
ornamentals, turf grass etc.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------* crops of major importance.

iv) * The oil crops (peanut, maize, rape, sunflower,

oil palm, coconut, olive, jatropha etc)
v) Fibre crops (kenaf, cotton and jute)
vi) The medicinal plants (Mengkudu or noni,
misai kuching, hempedu bumi, tongkat ali
etc).
vii) Others (more details in Crop classification)

LIVESTOCK
Livestock are domesticated animals reared for food.
Livestock are normally grouped into three
categories:
i) Mono-gastric (e.g.: swine, horse): their stomach or
digestive system consists of one compartment.
ii) Ruminants (e.g.: goat, sheep, cattle, buffaloes, etc).
They have 4 compartmented stomach (rumen,
omasum, abomasum and reticulum).
- Ruminants are efficient converters of grass/forage
into meat.
iii) Poultry bird-like, have feathers and lay eggs
(e.g.: chicken, ducks, quails, ostrich, goose, swan,
peacock/peahen etc).

Monogastric
A monogastric organism has a simple singlechambered stomach, compared to a ruminant organism,
which has a four-chambered complex stomach.
Examples of monogastric animals include:
1.Omnivores such as humans, rats, and pigs,
2.Carnivores such as dogs and cats,
3.Herbivores such as horses and rabbits.

Ruminant
A ruminant is a mammal that digests plant-based food
by initially softening it within the animal's first
compartment of the stomach, principally through
bacterial actions, then regurgitating the semi-digested
mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again. The
process of rechewing the cud to further break down plant
matter and stimulate digestion is called "ruminating.
There are about 150 species of ruminants which include
both domestic and wild species. Ruminating mammals
include cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, yaks, deer, camels,
llamas, antelope, and koalas.

The digestive system of ruminants

FISHERIES
Fisheries can be divided into two major

groups:
i) Marine types (salt water spp.) marine
fishes, squids, jelly fish, crustaceans,
mollusks, bivalves, sea cucumber,
seaweed (a plant spp.) and others.
ii) Fresh water fish and prawns - tilapia,
grass carps, Japanese carps, keli,
sepat, haruan, toman, patin, ikan hantu,
fresh water prawns (udang galah) etc.

Salt water fishes

Crustacean: The mud crab (ketam nipah/ketam batu)

in an aquarium at a restaurant.

A crustacean: The horseshoe

crab (Blankas)

A monster rock/coral crab

A bivalve: The giant clam

AGROFORESTRY
Agro-forestry is the cultivation of agricultural
or horticultural crops (e.g. fruit trees) and
forest/timber spp. in a single piece of land
under one owner or company.
Landscaping and recreation facilities may
be included in agro-forestry project.
There are a few well-known agro-forestry
projects in Malaysia, the famous one being
Balung River Eco Resort in Tawau, Sabah.

Mixed cropping of fruit trees and coffee at Balung River Eco Resort, Tawau

The Forest
The forest/timber species forest products are

for making houses, furniture, wall paneling,

photo frames etc.
The forest supplies oxygen to the air in
exchange for CO2 which is absorbed by the trees
during photosynthesis. Human, wildlife, insects
breath in oxygen and release CO2. Thus, the
forests form important oxygen supplier, and
cover major water catchment areas, and
preventing soil erosion.
The forest is also the home of many wildlife and
important source of flora and fauna, natural
products which can be extracted for medicinal
use.

 WHY AGRICULTURE IS IMPORTANT.

Importance of Agriculture
More than 10 years ago, it was estimated that
about 40% world population is employed in
agriculture.
Asia : 80% of population employed in
agric. (Currently: India: 52% and China:
36.7%)
Africa: 14% (Currently: estimated 40%)
Europe: < 10% (Currently: European Union: 4.7%)
Latin America: 3.5%
North America: <1% (Currently: USA 0.7%)
Malaysia: 13%

Importance of Agriculture..contd

Important aspects:
1) In developed or Underdeveloped countries

AGRICULTURE IS an important source of FOOD, for

HUMAN survival.
We need to eat food (3-4 times a day) and drink water
to live and lead a healthy life.
2) Developing/Developed & industrialized countries
produce raw materials from agriculture (e.g. rubber,
cocoa, livestock, palm oil etc) for major industrialized
nations. Thus, TRADING takes place between various
countries in the agriculture industry.
3) The government collects tax and sometimes research
cess on products exported overseas. Thus,
agriculture industry is an important source of revenue
for the country.

3) Agriculture maintains socio-political

stability of a country in difficult times

(e.g. during drought, flood, earth
quake, tsunami, civil war).
A country needs to have a good
stock-pile of FOOD reserves to
alleviate this problem.

4) Agriculture: A source of family

income from farm products.

5) Now, agric. wastes are turned into animal

feeds & fertilizers.

- oil palm trunks and rubber wood are made
into furniture, wooden tiles, paneling etc
: a second source of income.

The agric wastes of economic value:

PKC (palm kernel cake), coconut waste
(hampas kelapa), cocoa pods used for
animal feeds,
Animal wastes (tahi ayam, tahi kambing)
and P.O.M.E. are sold as organic fertilizers.

6) Crops, livestock and fishes are major sources of

food, fiber and other industrial applications :
Food Crops source of food/carbohydrates
for human consumption*
Livestock, fish, crustaceans sources of
protein
Cotton - Clothing for human
Oil palm and rubber are for industrial
applications.
- Rubber - raw materials for manufacturing
of tires, mattress, gloves.
- Oil palm - a source of cooking oil, cosmetics,
soaps etc.

 Kenaf, jute (Fibre crops) - for making

ropes, gunny sacks, clothes

Many species of medicinal plants - A
source of medicine and health products
Palm oil Vitamin E production, Bio-diesel
and bio-fuel for vehicles
Flowering plants and turf grasses - for
landscaping, sports and recreation
Pasture grasses and legumes - for livestock
feeds

..contd

Currently, the global increase in food price is a big

worry to many countries, including Malaysia.

Malaysia imports food and food products worth more
than
- RM 13.2 billion in 2005 and
- RM 30.3 billion in 2010
a big loss in foreign exchange

Strategy: grow our own food crops, enhance

our food industries for a few reasons:

- increase employment
- save the countrys foreign exchange.
- protect the countrys food security.
(i.e. not dependent on other countries for
our food supply)

 The Malaysian government has re-

vitalised agriculture by providing a

substantial budget allocation and
incentives under the RMK-10.
Now: AGRICULTURE IS A BUSINESS.

There are many agro-entrepreneurs in this

country who have become millionaires.

Agriculture enterprise should be developed on:

i) commercial scale,
ii) taking into account of the modern technology,
iii) automation and labour-saving devices.

There are ample scope for down stream activities,

such as food and snack manufacturing, feed mills

(animal feed), starch production, palm oil related
manufacturing, as concentrated in Palm Oil Industrial
Cluster (POIC).

Agro-tourism is another revenue earner.

GRADUATES IN AGRICULTURE SHOULD AIM TO BE
AGRO-ENTERPRENEURS.

 SEVERAL LARGE COMPANIES HAVE

VENTURED INTO AGRICULTURE..
EG: SIME DARBY, IOI, FELDA, Sarawak
Land Development Board, Sawit Kinabalu
etc.
They are financially contributing to the
countrys revenue and national
development.