The Agricultural sector in Malaysia

The Agricultural sector contributes 15-17% to the GNP valued at 15-18 billion RM per year. The major commodities are oil-palm (1,000,000 ha) with export value 5-6 billion RM, timber and timber product valued at 4-5 billion RM, animal products and fisheries with 2-3 billion, rubber with 1.0 billion RM and other minor fruit export like papaya, star-fruit, pineapple, mango, etc. The country still imports 11-12 billion RM of food products, and since local food production is 3-4 billion RM, there is a deficit of 7-8 billion RM. The Malaysian agricultural policy is to transform the agricultural sector into a modern, viable and competitive sector. Excluding the plantation sector, project implementation for the rural community will be under taken as an integrated basis (MOA approach) through agencies of the MOA like DOA, PORIM, RRIM, MARDI, DID, FAMA, PPK, RISDA and Fisheries/Veterinary Department. Malaysian agricultural policy makers will take cognizance of the importance of sustainable agriculture through conserving our agricultural resources and producing not only safe but also high quality agricultural products. To ensure that our products are safe we have implemented the Malaysia Accreditation scheme from January, 2002. This is based on EUREP-GAP and Cordeaux standard