04.06.2016 Views

Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

MALAYSIA consists of a peninsula, bordering Thailand in <strong>the</strong> north, and <strong>the</strong> northwestern<br />

side of <strong>the</strong> island of Borneo, with a tot<strong>al</strong> of 330,000 km 2 and a population of 21.8 million. Most<br />

of <strong>the</strong> peninsula is covered in tropic<strong>al</strong> <strong>for</strong>est, much of it on a centr<strong>al</strong> mountain range. Coast<strong>al</strong><br />

plains dominate <strong>the</strong> Borneo states and <strong>the</strong> interior is mountainous. About a quarter of <strong>the</strong><br />

work<strong>for</strong>ce is engaged in agriculture; 3% of <strong>the</strong> land is arable. Agriculture is 12% of <strong>the</strong> GDP.<br />

Gener<strong>al</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />

• GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 8,330<br />

• Intern<strong>al</strong> renewable water re<strong>source</strong>s: 456 km 3<br />

• Main food consumed: rice, oil and fat, sugar<br />

and honey, wheat, meat<br />

• <strong>Rice</strong> consumption, 1999: 88.4 kg milled rice<br />

per person per year<br />

Production constraints<br />

Yield has remained more or less unchanged<br />

during <strong>the</strong> last five years and is still low<br />

regardless of <strong>the</strong> large percentage of irrigated<br />

areas. There are sever<strong>al</strong> constraints to sustainable<br />

rice production in M<strong>al</strong>aysia:<br />

• Periodic drought even under irrigation<br />

because of erratic rainf<strong>al</strong>l<br />

• Intrusion of seawater in low-lying rice fields<br />

• Weeds: red rice because of <strong>the</strong> adoption of<br />

direct seeding; insects: brown planthopper,<br />

stem borer, and green leafhopper; and<br />

diseases: blast and rice tungro virus<br />

• Labor shortage because of high labor wages<br />

in rur<strong>al</strong> areas<br />

• Unfavorable prices of rice compared with<br />

those of o<strong>the</strong>r food products<br />

Production season<br />

Planting Harvesting<br />

Main season, Peninsular Sep-Oct Nov-Mar<br />

Main season, Sabah Jun-Aug Jan-Mar<br />

Main season, Sarawak Oct-Nov Mar-Apr<br />

188 <strong>Rice</strong> <strong>al</strong>manac

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!