COUNTRY
PROFILE - MALAYSIA
Malaysia
is located in south east Asia consisting of two regions separated by 650
Km of south China Sea it came into existence in 1963 and comprises Peninsular
Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah. The western region has Thailand in its north,
Indonesia in south (Sumatra separated by Strait of Malacca) and south-China
sea in the east. The eastern region has the same sea in its west, Indonesia
(Borneo) in the south. The western region can be traced between the latitudes
of 10' to 5° N and longitudes of 111° to 115° E, while the
eastern region lies between the latitudes of 3° 5' to 0° 30' N
and longitudes of 119° to 122° E. Malaysia occupies a total area
of 330433 Sq. Km with the highest elevation of 4094 m of mount Kinabelu
in Sabah. The total population is 21.01 M of which about 21% are involved
in agriculture although the rural population is estimated to be 58%, the
remaining 42% live in cities and towns. Malaysia is the largest producer
of Natural Rubber, tin and palm oil. Major exported goods include electric
and electronic equipment, machinery, petroleum, Rubber timber and palm
oil.
Malaysia
has a strong economy in southeast Asia and depends heavily on the production
of petroleum, rubber, timber and tin. But it also produces a variety of
farm crops and manufactures goods, whereas tin mining was the first driving
force and now it ranks third in tin production but lately petroleum and
natural gas make the mark. It occupies 13th position in the deposits of
natural gas and 22nd in petroleum reserves. Manufacturing accounts for
26% contribution to CDP. The per capita GNP of Malaysia is US $ 3520 (1994).
Physiography
and Climate
The
country lies in a strategic position for sea and air transport between
Europe and Far east and is free from earth quakes, volcanoes and typhoons.
The land scape consists of broad plains mountain ranges, spectacular line
stone out crops and caves, swamps, sandy beaches and meandering towers.
The peninsular Malaysia is divided into two by the mountains range, Bare
Tiswangsa running from the Thai border along more than half the length
of peninsula. Several peaks rise to 2000 m above MSL and there are upland
resorts in Cameron highlands. Frasers hills and Genting High Lands. There
are short mountain ranges on both sides of the main range in the northern
half of the peninsula, the highest peak is Gunung Tahan 2187 m.
Sarawak
and Sabah cover most of the northern Bones. Sarawak has a series of mountain
ranges which form a physical barrier separating it from the Indonesian
province of Kalimantan. These ranges extend north-eastward into Sabah.
Limestone
outcrops form massive towers in many parts of the country. Many of the
outcrops contain limestone caves. The largest Malaysian rivers are in
Sarawak and Sabah. The longest are the Rejang in Sarawak (565 Km) and
the Kinabatangan in Sabah (563 Km). Malaysia has a long coastline measuring
1930 Km in the peninsula, and 2253 Km in Sarawak and Sabah.
Climate
Malaysia
lies entirely in the equatorial zone. The climate is governed by the region
of north east and south west monsoons. The north east monsoon blows from
approximately October till March and is responsible for the heavy rains
which hit the east cost of the peninsula and frequently cause widespread
floods. The south-west monsoon between May and September is a drier period
for the whole country. The period between these two monsoons is marked
by heavy rainfall.The average temperature throughout the year is very
stable, 26°C and the mean annual rainfall is 3000 mm.
Agriculture
The
agricultural sector plays major but declining role in the Malaysian economy.
Its contribution to the gross domestic produce (GDP) decreased during
the 1980’s. One third of the population work in agriculture. In 1996,
the total cultivable area was 14.17 million ha or 43% of the total land
area of Malaysia while a little above 37% of the cultivable area is cultivated.
Malaysia
is the world’s largest producer of natural rubber and palm oil. The
country produces more than half the world’s palm oil. It also accounts
for more than one-third of the world’s rubber. Malaysia is the fourth
largest producer of cocoa. Other important crops are wet rice, coconuts,
pepper, tobacco, pineapples, tea and many topical fruits. Timber products
such as sawn logs, sawn timber, plywood and veneer, wood moldings, and
furniture are the leading non-mineral primary products.
Permanent
crops represent 89% of this cultivated area, while the remaining 11% are
under annual crops mainly paddy cultivation. There agriculture sector
is divided into large scale plantations basically focussed on three crops
(rubber, oil palm and cocoa) and the small holdings which constitute the
majority of population.
Table
1. Distribution of Paddy Areas, 1993 (hectares)
State |
Irrigated
Areas |
Non-Irrigated
Areas* |
Total |
| Perlis |
22,039 |
3,648 |
25,687 |
| Kedah |
93,670 |
24,857 |
118,527 |
| Pulau
Pinang |
14,895 |
225 |
15,120 |
| Perak |
49,029 |
4,225 |
53,284 |
| Selangor |
19,583 |
106 |
19,689 |
| Negeri
Sembilan |
8,680 |
1,449 |
10,129 |
| Melaka |
6,183 |
3,435 |
9,618 |
| Johor |
3,055 |
746 |
3,801 |
| Pahang |
17,388 |
13,796 |
31,184 |
| Terengganu |
14,843 |
12,173 |
27,016 |
| Kelantan |
40,032 |
25,382 |
65,414 |
| Sabah |
17,163 |
33,639 |
50,802 |
| Sarawak |
15,136 |
153,076 |
168,212 |
| Total |
321,696 |
276,787 |
598,483 |
Source
: Ministry of Agriculture - Note : * Includes dry paddy areas |
Water
Resources
The
average annual water resources on a total land mass of 330,000km2 amount
to 990 billion m3. Out of which, 360 billion m3, or 36% returns to the
atmosphere as evapotranspiration, 566 billion m3, or 57% appear as surface
runoff and the remaining 64 billion m3, or 7% go to the recharge of groundwater.
Of the total 566 billion m3 of surface runoff, 147 billion m3 are found
in Peninsular Malaysia, 113 billion m3 in Sabah and 306 billion m3 in
Sarawak.
In
Malaysia, paddy is produced mainly by small holders with an average farm
size of about 1.06 hectares. There are approximately 296,000 paddy farmers
of which 116,000 are full time farmers depending on paddy cultivation
for their livelihood. Sixty five percent of the paddy farmers have farms
of less than one hectare while only four percent have more than three
hectares.
The
fruit industry is a small holder based industry involving 270,000 farmers.
In 1995, the area under fruits was 257,600 hectares out of which 86,210
hectares were planted on a commercial basis (see Table 3). For the 1985-1995
period, the production of fresh fruits increased at the rate of 4.8 percent
per annum from 638,100 tonnes to 1,019,900 tonnes. Exports of fresh and
processed fruits increased from RM182.4 million in 1985 to RM335.6 million
in 1995, while imports of fresh and processed fruits also increased from
RM257.2 million in 1985 to RM444.3 million in 1995. Overall, Malaysia
is still a net importer of fruits and fruit products. Most of the raw
materials required for processing are outsourced from other producing
countries due to the lack of comparative advantage in producing fruits
for processing.
The
area under vegetables cultivation has increased from 31,840 hectares in
1985 to 42,240 hectares in 1995 (Table 2). The production of vegetables
has increased from 540,700 tonnes in 1985 to 718,100 tonnes in 1995 at
an average growth rate of about 2.9 percent per annum. The export of vegetables
has increased at the rate of 15.2 percent per annum from RM39 million
in 1985 to RM160 million in 1995 while the value of import has increased
from RM276 million in 1985 to RM685 million in 1995. Hence, Malaysia is
also a net importer of vegetables and vegetable products.
Table
2. Agricultural Land Use, 1985 – 1995 (’000 hectares)
Item |
1985 |
1990 |
1995 |
Average
Annual Growth Rate (%) |
|
|
|
|
1995–90 |
1990–95 |
1985–95 |
| Rubber |
1,948.7 |
1,836.7 |
1,679.0 |
-1.2 |
-1.8 |
-1.5 |
| Oil
Palm |
1,482.4 |
2,029.5 |
2,539.9 |
6.5 |
4.6 |
5.5 |
| Cocoa |
303.9 |
419.1 |
190.7 |
6.6 |
-14.6 |
-4.6 |
| Paddy1 |
655.0 |
680.6 |
672.8 |
0.8 |
-0.2 |
0.3 |
| Coconut |
334.1 |
315.6 |
248.9 |
-1.1 |
-4.6 |
-2.9 |
| Pepper |
5.4 |
11.5 |
10.2 |
16.3 |
-2.4 |
6.6 |
| Vegetables1 |
31.8 |
35.2 |
42.2 |
2.1 |
3.7 |
2.9 |
| Fruits |
150.1 |
204.6 |
257.7 |
6.4 |
4.7 |
5.6 |
| Tobacco1 |
16.2 |
10.2 |
10.5 |
-8.8 |
0.6 |
-4.2 |
| Others2 |
94.3 |
94.8 |
99.1 |
0.1 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
| Total |
5,021.8 |
5,637.6 |
5,751.0 |
2.3 |
0.4 |
1.4 |
2
Others include sugarcane, coffee, sago, tea and floriculture |
Table
3. Employment and Productivity in Agriculture, 1985 – 2010
| Year |
Agriculture |
Total |
| |
Employment
('000) |
%
of Total Employment |
Productivity
Per Worker (RM in 1978 prices) |
Employment
('000) |
Productivity
Per Worker (RM in 1978 prices) |
| 1985 |
1,796 |
31.3 |
6,600 |
5,737 |
9,950 |
| 1990 |
1,738 |
26.0 |
8,530 |
6,685 |
11,870 |
| 1995 |
1,429 |
18.0 |
11,360 |
7,937 |
15,160 |
| 2000 |
1,280 |
14.1 |
14,450 |
9,066 |
17,460 |
| 2005 |
1,100 |
10.9 |
18,450 |
10,053 |
22,640 |
| 2010 |
930 |
8.4 |
24,730 |
11,099 |
29,060 |
| Average
Annual Growth Rate (%) |
| 1985–1995 |
-2.3 |
|
5.6 |
3.3 |
4.3 |
| 1995–2010 |
-2.8 |
|
5.3 |
2.3 |
4.4 |
Sources : Economic Planning Unit, Department of Statistics |
Future
Scenarios and Aims
The growth of
population and the expansion of the industrial and manufacturing sector
have led to a rapid increase in water demand in the country. The domestic
and industrial water demand has increased from about 1.3 billion m3 in
1980 to 2.6 billion m3 in 1990 and is projected to reach 4.8 billion m3
by the year 2000. The irrigation water demand is increasing less rapidly
from about 7.4 billion m3 in 1980 to 9.0 billion m3 in 1990 and is expected
to reach 10.4 billion m3 by the year 2000. The aggregate total water demand
is therefore estimated at 15.2 billion m3 by the year 2000 as compared
to 11.6 billion m3 in 1990 with the domestic and industrial water supply
sector registering the highest percentage increase.
Irrigation
and Drainage
In
Malaysia, the potential irrigable area accounts for about 413700 ha. Irrigation
development dated as far back as the end of the eighteenth century. The
Kerian irrigation scheme was the first of the large schemes to be constructed
in 1892. Since the formation of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage
in 1932, irrigated areas for paddy cultivation has progressively increased.
By the year 1960, about 200 000 ha had been developed, the emphasis then
being to supplement rainfall for single crop cultivation. During the 1960’s
and early 1970’s, the advent of double cropping of rice cultivation
required the development of adequate water resources for the off season
crops. During the 1980’s, the priority for irrigation took a new
dimension with the need to rationalise rice cultivation relevant to production
cost and profit considerations. The government evolved a policy to confine
irrigation development to the eight large irrigated areas in the country,
designated as granary areas totalling 210 500 ha and comprising the irrigated
areas of Muda, Kada, Seberang Perai, Trans Perk, Northwest Selangor, Kerian-Sungai
Manik, Besut and Kemasin-Semarak.
Malaysia
has over 932 irrigation schemes covering an area of 340 633 ha, comprising
8 granary schemes (210 500 ha), 74 mini-granary (29 500 ha) and 850 non-granary
schemes (100 633 ha). The non-granary schemes are scattered all over the
country and their sizes vary between 50 ha and 200 ha.
Irrigation
is predominately for paddy cultivation and a minor position for the cultivation
of cash crops. Paddy cultivation is mostly carried out by individual farmers
working on small plots of about 1 to 1.5 ha. Irrigation facilities for
double cropping are mainly focused on the eight main granary schemes and
the 74 mini-granary schemes, with an average cropping intensity of 170%.
The current irrigation efficiency is around 35 to 45% with water productivity
index of about 0.2 kg of rice/m3. The average yield for irrigated rice
in 1994 was 3.8 T/ha.
In
major irrigation schemes the flooding type of irrigation is generally
practiced for paddy cultivation where the water depth can be controlled
individually by the farmers. Major irrigation schemes are designed with
proper farm roads to cater for farm mechanisation especially for ploughing
and harvesting. Most of the irrigation schemes are provided with separate
drainage facilities. The issues of salinity, waterlogging and waterborne
diseases are not reported as significant.
The
farmers pay a nominal irrigation charges which vary from US$. 3 to US$
15 per hectare per year. However, the collected fees cover only 10 to
12% of the actual operational cost. The government does not seek full
cost recovery because the farming community is made of poor persons. A
total of 917 million US$ have been spent on irrigation development by
the government since 1970.
Malaysia
and ICID
Malaysia joined ICID in the year 1958 and has played an active role in
the activities of the Commission. Mr. Shahrizaila bin Abdullah (1993-96)
and Dato' Ir. Hj. Keizrul bin Abdullah (2002-05) from Malaysian National
Committee were past Presidents of ICID. Mr. J.G. Daniel (1975-78) and Ir. Mohd. Azhari bin Ghazalli (2006-2009) were the Past Vice-Presidents of ICID.
Malaysia is actively represented in 7 work bodies of ICID. Presently, Ir. Mohd. Azhari bin Ghazalli is the Chairman of the Malaysian National Committee. Malaysian National
Committee. Malaysian National Committee hosted the 7th International Drainage
Workshop in Penang in 1997and 57th International Executive Council (IEC)
meeting in 2006. |
