Modernize the Farmers, Then the Farms
Modernize the Farmers, Then the Farms
The Ninth Malaysia Plan calls for heavy investment in the farm sector. Modernizing agriculture lies less with the paddy fields and palm oil plantations but more with the classrooms and lecture halls. Modernize the farmers, and they would modernize their farms.
Modernizing means more than just having modern implements, it involves fundamental changes in attitude towards farming, and of the farmers.
The K-Economy and Theory of Endogenous Growth
Consider this fictional account of two farmers. Both Ahmad and Bakar have the same size rice fields that are of equal fertility. Their method of farming remains unchanged, and their yields comparable. The only way to increase their output is through increasing the traditional “factors of production:” land (cultivate more); labor (planting twice a year); and capital (fertilizers, high-yield seeds). These have their limits and points of diminishing returns.
One day Ahmad noticed that a good portion of the seeds he sowed were eaten by birds. He reasoned that if he were to sow in the evening, by morning the seeds would be swollen by the dew and hidden beneath the moist soil, thus escaping the birds. He followed his intuition, and was duly rewarded by an increase in harvest.
Meanwhile Bakar stuck to tradition; who was he to change the ways of his forefathers. On seeing Ahmad’s success however, Bakar followed suit and was equally rewarded.
Ahmad went further. He discovered that by soaking his seeds in water impregnated with some bitter root substance that would deter the birds, his yield was increased even more. Soon he was selling his concoction. The more farmers use it, the greater the total village yield; there is virtually no limit to the increase. Everybody wins; the law of diminishing returns being inoperative. Such is the beauty and promise of the new “economic theory of endogenous growth.”
It is appropriate to reflect on what made Ahmad do what he did. He could be like Bakar and observe the practices of his ancestors. There is more than merely one defying tradition, and the other, a stickler to it.
Ahmad observed and learned from his environment. He noticed the birds and the dew, and their relationship to his seeds. He synthesized his observations, and then went ahead with a trial of his new insight. He was proven right and reaped a bounty. Intuitively, Ahmad is following the scientific method.
The question remains: How do we get more farmers to be like Ahmad? The assumption is that Ahmad and Bakar are not born with their traits. We can train farmers to be like Ahmad, to be innovative and productive, or to be like Bakar, resistant to change and unquestioningly accepting the status quo.
If we teach our young to be obedient to precedence (taqlid), follow tradition, and not to question established ways, then we are likely to get farmers like Bakar. The madrasahs are good at producing future Bakars. If we send our young to schools where they teach you to be observant, record your experiences, try to modify them and study their effects, that is, schools that emphasize the sciences, then we are likely to get Farmer Ahmad.
Then there is the role of culture. Things might not have worked out so wonderfully for Ahmad. His seeds could have been destroyed by mildew; and he would the butt of the villagers’ scorn. “See what you get for defying tradition!” Were that to happen, then it would discourage future budding Ahmads.
If the society were nurturing and supportive of change and had responded encouragingly, “It was a good idea though, what went wrong?” then it would more likely encourage future Ahmads. A Bill Gates would not likely emerge in a culture where dropping out of college would be considered a great shame on the individual and his or her family.
Productivity of American Farmers
American rice farmers drive luxury cars and vacation in exotic tropical isles while their Malaysian counterparts lead a subsistence living. Why the gap? Productivity!
The insight of modern economics is that knowledge, specifically scientific knowledge, trumps the traditional factors of production in enhancing growth.
American farmers are unbelievably productive. They usually have a degree from one of the A&M universities, and are well supported by intensive extension services from the Department of Agriculture and local universities. Its commitment to WTO notwithstanding, America provides generous subsidies.
Contrast that to Malaysian farmers. The rural schools they attend rarely offer classes even remotely related to farming. Worse, these schools are heavy on religions and light on the sciences.
There are very few vocational agricultural schools. It reflects the government’s shallow commitment to improving agriculture that these schools are not in the educational mainstream. Their students could not aspire to greater heights (like entering college or university); hence they have little motivation to excel.
Malaysia used to have the Agriculture College offering diploma programs. That institution is now a university, and there is a gap in the training of sub-professional personnel. Few of the public and none of the private universities offer farm related courses.
There is no institution devoted to training future farmers. Like every other human endeavor, practitioners in agriculture must be formally trained. The vast and substantive body of knowledge can no longer be passed from father to son as with subsistence farming. Future farmers must be as formally trained as future physicians.
The USDA has a fine stable of research facilities and its personnel heavy with science-trained individuals. The Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture is full of science-illiterate bureaucrats.
The US Secretary of Agriculture and his deputy are professed “farm boys.” Secretary Johanns describes himself as “a farmer’s son with an intense passion for agriculture.” It is doubtful whether his Malaysian counterpart could claim the same zeal.
Malaysia’s effort at modernizing agriculture thus far has been for the minister to endlessly exhort those poor and illiterate farmers to exploit the rich European markets. That reflects how far detached he is from the reality in the villages.
Modernizing Malaysian Agriculture
A good start at modernizing Malaysian agriculture would be to initiate a national tractor project. We have one for cars and motorcycles, why not tractors? That would boost the productivity of farmers. Failing that, the government could remove all taxes for farm equipment. At the very least, the Agriculture Department should have facilities where farmers could rent farm equipment cheaply. They used to have that under colonial rule.
To attract bright and enterprising individuals to agriculture, I would give scholarships to those who pursue it at university. I would scrap all scholarships for Islamic and Malay Studies and divert the funds to funding students in agriculture.
I would continue the support beyond graduation through subsidized loans and free public land if they promise to develop it for agriculture.
Then I would fund extensive extension services to support these well educated modern farmers. That is the only way to modernize agriculture. Anything less would be wishful thinking.
May 28th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Success stories of manufacturing sectors in the 90’s was one of the reason for rapid decline in farming, son of farmers were more interested to work in cleaner environment with bigger money, they packed and move out to big city.
Yes, I would agree that education don’t play the required role, remember those days when Rafidah Aziz was constantly reminding students the important of having degrees in applied science, and therefore work in one in the factory.
The only way is TO SHOW THE MONEY, tell stories about the success of farmers, then only more and more kid will be interested. By then, the government have got no option.
May 28th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Ahh, at last something practical. You hit the spot this time. Man you got it 110% right this time.
Malaysia made a big boo-boo when it over emphasized on big industry. Actually the farmers had a treasure all along, but some idiots thought the way up was in the towns, in brick houses, through elite schools, being exposed to a town or city culture and working in a office or factory.
In this blessed tropical Malaysia, which is almost ideal for agro farming you do not need to have huge farms like in America to be a multi-millionaire. When will people be mindless ambitious copycats and recognise their own special advantages and work on it.
Dumb is the word man. Real dumbo. Take an example in today’s NST news. Can you imagine how stupid those government and political development guys are - replacing pomelo farms with houses or development. What kind of financial return is that. You call that value? I call that sick. They should be sacked - no economic or business sense at all. Only know how to make short term gains. Typical kill the goose that lays the golden eggs behaviour.
We need people who have their heads screwed on right, not some get rich quick nuttos. People who can improve, work the details, be scientific and persistent and know how to count honestly and not cook the books.
No, I am not a pomelo farner or a pomelo eating lover.
May 29th, 2006 at 1:34 am
Looks like the pendulum is “swinging back”
I remembered in the 70s and 80s economist talked about the declining terms of trade suffered by developing countries - ostenbily by their reliance on agriculture……
But now…..
Notwithsatnding all that…. there are several issues…
Namely:
The agriculture industry is very “huge” …. with different sectors and levels of value chain….. a very difficult task for govt to effectively “support”…. all of them….. which one to support… so which kind of agri activity should the govt support…..?
Making tractors is quite similar to the heavy industries (automobile) which fail miserably……
I say better stick to the education part… modernise the farmers… plus:
Several less costly policy alternative:
1. Reform the land management system - make it easier to trade (buy and sell land for agriculture). Land is after all a main input in agriculture.
2. Reform the financing system - make the markets to obtain capital “more efficient”. Financing for agriculture is also a key input…..
One thing though….. M Bakri says that US farmers are more luxurious than Malaysian farmers… absolutely right…. productivity…… so much so that a tiny fraction of American population are involved in the agri industry…
But in Malaysia… the fraction is bigger… if this is the case… then I suppose Malaysia has far too many farmers that are not productive!
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Actually, making the agriculture industry more efficient and productive will result in less employment in the agricultural industry!
Just to think about it….. in China, many rural folks left their farms and drifted to the cities during the 80s and 90s….. as a result of the reforms (mainly privatization of communal lands) made by the Communist Party…
Perhaps the 9th Malaysia plans with all intentions to invest heavily in the farm sector will see many Malaysians living in the urban areas…..
I wonder if policy makers have thought about this…. I wonder if M Bakri or any one else visiting this blog have though about this too!
May 29th, 2006 at 1:36 am
Dr Bakri has raised a very interesting point about our farmers. What have been mentioned warrant deep invetigations & studies. I would like to point to a different facade of the same problem. This angle deals with;
1) a lot has to do with attitudes than educational.
2) getting the ‘right’ people to manage the ‘helps’ that are suppose to be channelled to the recipients.
3) the proper educational impairment.
The most productive rice cultivation area in M’sia is at Sekinchan, Perak. Yet consider the real govt supports given to this area vis-a-vis Kuala Muda in Kedah then one will be wondering where all those money that has been pouring into Kuala Muda been used to?
In term of economics, govt supports per acre of rice produced in these two areas shown a very wide gap. Yet the one that getting the least govt supports produces tonnage of rice far exceed the one getting the most subsidies!
Are the poor farmers in Kuala Muda been conned, or they just want to make enough to continue their casual lifestyles, or they’re just plain lazy?
The judgements clearly point to
1) a lot of the development funds never reached the farmers & the accounting records are always dubious with the fund managers!
2) most of the subsidised fertilizers & grain seeds have been sold rather than used, just to make quick gain. The typical rent-seeker mentality!
3) the unwillingness to work double or treble croppings when the situation allows.
4) AOB (any other business), these need further investigations
A lot of our farming communities have been wrongly advised that farmings are a sunset industries with low self-esteem. Dr Bakri has rightly pointed this out as the opposite in USA where the farming community is a powerful & rich sectors of the populace.
A typical farmer would encourage their children to strike-out from the farming activities & go into the cities to be skilled engineers or high paid managers. Most of these advices are propogated by the govt officers to the farming members of the kampong. Its still being carrying out this day! Nothing wrong with this concept but do the farmers have been properly brief about the choice?
This concept has a very deep impact to the average kampong farmers, leading to many of the farms, in Kedah or Kelantan, been laying idled due to lack of care-takers as the older generations are passing-on. Worst still due to the land administrative structures, these idled farms cannot be leased to the other races even these other race are willing to cultivate them.
Now the question to ask is why these govt offices wants the children of the farming community to get out of farming? Is farming really a dying activities - due to people, weather, pest or anything? The farming activities have been on-going for so long that surely there must be some values in them. The old ways could be inefficient, high wastage, labour intensive, but what about the modern farming methologies that the West has been practised so successfully over the years. Cannot they be adopted to suit the local conditions?
Or is it because these officers were so gung-ho to force march their people towards modenisation anything related to farming were toconsidered old & to be disposed off? Engineers & managers sound so much better than farmers, rubber tappers, RIGHT?
There are many subjects to be studied further in the promotion of the farming industries in M’sia. & yet we’re not out of the wood yet as dark-hands are everywhere trying to get quick profits without any inputs or efforts.
Just the other day, MOA set up a body to carry-out deep sea fishing industry, with million ringgit inputs from govt. What do you know. 4 out of the 5 supposed partners have no an inking of knowledge about fish, less so about deep-sea fishing. The fifth has to opt-out just because he knows that in this venture he’ll be squeezed dry by these rent-seekers, who get into the venture just because someone say so.
With these sort of mentality permeates throughout the system how can one see any light getting out of the pit-black tunnel?
May 29th, 2006 at 1:39 am
Typo:
I forgot to add the word “more” in this sentence……..
Perhaps the 9th Malaysia plans with all intentions to invest heavily in the farm sector will see many “more” Malaysians living in the urban areas…..
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Aha….. this sounds interesting:
” I would scrap all scholarships for Islamic and Malay Studies and divert the funds to funding students in agriculture….”
Perhaps this is a matter of taste… I mean M Bakri’s preference for Islamic and Malay Studies……
May 29th, 2006 at 4:38 am
He he he….
if C53k is right…. and it is highly likely, then M Bakri recommendation that the agri sector be “supported” by govt is not the best way.
So last time Malaysia Inc - Heavy Industry failed…
So in the future …will the same fate befall Malaysia Inc - Agriculture…?
Better “hands- off” then…. like the electronics industry…. and look how it contributed to Malaysia’s export earnings……..
Perhaps it is better that the govt focus on “land reforms” and making financing for agriculture widely available (and efficient) then….. rather than “picking winners”…which somehow are destined to lose…….
And……perhaps like the electronics industry….. the govt should let foreign investors be involved as much as possible…….
May 29th, 2006 at 5:17 am
Correction to 2nd post, May 28, 2006 10:04 pm
When will people be mindless ambitious copycats and recognise their own special advantages and work on it.
should be corrected - two words cut out by mistake during editting by me-
When will people STOP BEING mindless ambitious copycats and recognise their own special advantages and work on it.
May 30th, 2006 at 1:28 am
assume the following suggestions that bakri musa puts forward are implemented
a) malaysian farmers are sent to some A&M university in US or Malaysia and have them graduate with a degree
b) malaysian farmers be assisted by ” intensive extension services from the Department of Agriculture and local universities. ”
c) malaysian farmers be “formally trained as future physicians.”
d) Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture establish a “ fine stable of research facilities” with run and managed by “science-trained individuals.”
Initiate a national tractor project and provide facilities where farmers could rent farm equipment cheaply.
e) “Scrap all scholarships for Islamic and Malay Studies and divert the funds to funding students in agriculture” and “attract bright and enterprising individuals to agriculture”
f) “Continue the support beyond graduation through subsidized loans and free public land if they promise to develop it for agriculture.”
g) “Fund extensive extension services to support these well educated modern farmers.”
Bakri Musa feels that “That is the only way to modernize agriculture.” Well as an economist I can tell him if only Malaysian government implement all his measures in an effort to modernize aggriculture, it will be a wishful thinking.
What he is proposing is the age old way of modernization which is to modernize by westernization.
Most of his measures have been implemented in numerous countries in Asia, Africa and latin America but only to find that they required a huge amount of resources to be allocated but yielded results that were marginal, insignificant and pathetic.therefore bakri musa’s Practikal suggestions will only dish the farmers out from the water into the frying pan.
At the level of policy making like this in complex areas such as this, what may seem so apparent or practically apparent, may in turn never yield the desired outcomes at all or to the extent desired.
May 30th, 2006 at 9:36 am
Somebody out there should have the figures I believe. The future scenario is more like this:-
1) The number of people in the agro areas are reducing. This is not because they have become more productive, hence requiring less workers. On the contrary, they could very happily take in more immigrant workers. The owners are getting old, weak and dying out. Most of the children have left for the urban areas for other work more in line with their expectations as a result of the kind of non-agricultural education they presently received. The fields are getting abandoned.
2) Existing padi areas are more than adequate to provide more than 100% of the rice required, but unfortunately the padi farmers are not as hardworking at taking care of their fields as the farmers in Sekinchan. Some cooperation and organization among the farmers may be needed but the main problem is getting them to do the work to the level required.
3) If farmers are allowed to convert their padi fields to plant more expensive type of rice and other mixed money making crops, and if Bernas does not distort the pricing system thru milling and distribution, each farm can sustain a larger work force or extended family. By sticking to a low subsidised rice price, Bernas and the government is effectively discouraging rice cultivation through its monopoly.
4) Farmers for idle lands should concentrate on other money making crops which can be bottled, canned or wrapped, or otherwise processed. There are numerous foodcrops and non-foodcrops, too many to be mentioned which had been successfully cultivated or studied. And yes, the Malay farmer can and had been succesful in some of these ventures as well as the other races. For that matter, even wet rice paddy growing was a new introduction to the Malays to replace slash and burn dry padi. But of course, the Malays had not yet mastered the art of getting huge crops yet, although why they are not willing to follow the Sekinchan farmers examples would make a fine psychological study.
5) Being scientific, methodical, and entrepeneul and organised in trying out new crops or ways has nothing to do with westernization or large scale and expensive socialistic collectivation like FELDA schemes. Of course, there are more than enough dark hands who would be more than happy to appropriate idle lands for some large scale projects which eventually may magically be transformed into golf courses or housing estates or townships.
6) Teaching farmers to be good rich farmers can be an uphill task for extension workers although nothing works like successful examples. Perhaps the government should alienate some land in each of the padi areas and give them free to a Sekinchan farmer to serve as practical examples. More farming adult education through farm cooperatives and other interested parties with support from government and university teachers/extension workers is part of it. But an attitude change at the agama and other rural school towards a more objective, experimental and methodical way of practical learning and doing things with some business and marketing training could possibly do wonders for the upliftment of strong and populous rural economy. There is more to it then the equivalent of a screwdriver, welder or an assembly line kind of training.
7) Large Soviet, commune style or large mechanised farms are inherently more risky. Small intensive farms are much more manageable to produce maximum yield. The larger the farm, the higher the calbre of the management and the field workers needed. If the management, farmers and support are not up to the grade in their work attitude, this is a sure recipe for disaster or poor productivity or miserable returns. A tidak apa culture or bad maintenance culture cannot possibly operate large schemes to the highest levels of productivity, more likely produce sickening red ink instead.
9) Encouraging and supporting the trained farmers and agro cert or diploma grads to venture is a good way to seed development by example in various different agro ventures. Just keep it small and let them grow by themselves organically as they gain the necessary experience. Government can help by allowing their agro experts or extension workers to take working sabbaticals to try out their ventures. If they fail, take them back, the experience should be a useful lesson. If they succeed, let them go to seed more ventures by example or subcontracting to neighbouring farmers for additional supply. They may even be able to help organise the nearby farmers.
Please feel free to use or quote any of the above views.
May 30th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
uberculturejohor
You said that Bakri Musa says that This is the only way.. I say you are wrong. Bakri did not say This is the ONLY way.
Secondly you as a professed economist cites all that is wrong with Bakri’s views but never not even once give or propose an out or an alternative. You should at least contest Bakri’s proposal with an even better or workable proposal.
But as all economist you will in all probablility say “I predict” or “provided that …” or “subject to” or….. what economists normally do is play Monday morning quarterback. tsk tsk Maybe that’s why Johorians see across the Causeway and wonder why Johor can’t be like its neighbor.
May 30th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Bookworm,
You made some worthy comments. I’ll reproduce your piece as a follow up to Barkri’s article in the next issue of Ipoh Echo.
Hope that’s fine with you?
Cheers.
May 30th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
ha ha… ogre, i am actually a true blue singaporean living in singapore and having born and bred in singapore though having lived much of my life in north america… its just that to bring out the worst stereotypes and biases in people , i assumed a pseudonym that may suggest i am a johorean…. you have proven me right.
well ogre, the first thing an economist does before proposing an alternative is to evaluate. why propose when the conventional is perfectly fine. that is why in my previous posting i didnt suggest any alternative.
now lets talk about alternative solutions.
before even starting on it the first thing to look at is to ask what the malaysian farmers really want and feel is good for them. bakri musa may have his good opinions and wishes and ideas on what is good for malaysian farmers. mahathir had his, abdullah has his and i am sure the current agriculture minister willl have his. when what you want the farmer to have and what you see is good for the farmer do not align with what the farmer actually wishes for and sees to be good, then whatever policy that you may implement, how brillliant it may be, will yield no strong results. so ogre, even before anyone, let alone me, can suggest anything, we need to find out what malaysian farmers feel is good for them and what they want in life. do they want to be millionaire farmers? do they want high technology equipment? do they want material success? do they want degrees in agricultural universities? do they believe in increasing productivity?
in fact this is the number one contributing factor to policies such as those suggestions put forth by bakri musa having had a poor success record in Asia, Latin America and Africa. should the east be east and west be west, never shall they twain.
i am not saying give the farmers what they want. but instead no aggricultural reform will carry through till has the full support and buy in from the farmers. they will have to feel incentivized to participate actively and they must have a strong role to play in the reforms from scratch to finish.
should the farmers’ objectives not coincide with policy makers then its no use blaming the farmers or tyranically try to replace them with other willing farmers. policy makers will have to undertake aggressive efforts to inspire the farmers, which really requires much creativity and ingenuity.
May 30th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Dr Bakri, this is for Fathol Zaman
It is OK if you want to reproduce my comments in Ipoh Echo as a follow-up to Dr Bakri’s article.
In principle, I believe that citizens, bloggers and posters do have a role to play. Constructive feedback and suggestions correcting the mistakes of the past and building on the good work of other people is a necessary part of the process in getting Malaysians to progress.
Regards - bookworms
May 31st, 2006 at 1:05 am
Indeed……..This subject require further studies…….
The govt, especially the Malaysian govt has limited resources. Unlike the US or the EU, I am sure the amount of monies and resources of the Malaysian is way too small. So to make a policy effective…focus is important…….
One of the problem for the govt in deciding what agri-activity to “support” is the vastness of the (scope of) activities.
Just look at the ISIC - Division 01 - Agriculture, hunting and related service activities. ISIC = International Standard Industrial Classification
And if one cares to explore further, look at ISIC 0111, 0112, 0113 …. Very diverse activities………
And some might argue that “deep sea fishing” is part of agriculture….. so one also has to consider ISIC 015… and what about poultry…and others…. etc…etc…..
The policy makers may find themselves overwhelmed! The govt cannot possibly support all of them……
In this regard, I suppose one should also ask farmers what they want to produce…. or would like to produce… before formulating policies that may favour one activity over the other….. if not the govt can actually do a lot of harm especially to the farmers that are not in the favoured sectors……
And of course, knowledge of what will be the future demands will be helpful… just imagine having produced such and such agri commodities…. only to find the market is saturated… that will be a waste of resources… plus the farmers might want to be bailed out too!
Such are some of the hazards that the govt may face….
Indeed…. the neo-classical argument that the govt should be best laissez-faire holds currency here……
May 31st, 2006 at 2:25 am
uberculturejohor
Irregardless of where you live, your views are welcome. It may even help the Malaysian farmers in achieving their dreams and hopes. Yes you are right about asking what the farmers want but if the farmer is uneducated he will be unrealistic in his wants and needs. Bakri is advocating to educate the farmers so they have a better understanding of their potentials. While Bakri gives an example that US Farmers go to A&M University, he is not suggesting that the Malaysian farmewrs go to A&M university but maybe get the opportunity to attend UPM which was once Universiti Pertanian Malaysia but now known as Universiti Putra Malaaysia.
UPM was set up with the idea to offer courses in agriculture, farming, food technology and other courses related to farming and economics. Look at Thailand and their food technology and farming technicues. When talking about Durian it is Thai durian, Thai mangoes, Thai Tiger shrimps and the list go on. Why can’t this be Malaysian durians, mangoes etc etc.
As the Malaysian southern neighbor Singapore imports lots of produce from Malaysia and it is to the benefit of Singapore to ensure that the Malaysian farmers produce quality produce and affordable. So please share your thoughts and maybe we can see a new Green Book published by the Malaysian government
May 31st, 2006 at 2:51 am
On top of the normal agricultural activities, there are also the supporting activities… such as distribution….and land schemes
Felda is one example of govt involvement in giving resources i.e. land… but actually the main purpose is poverty alleviation …
Bernas is one example of govt involvement in the agri industry… it is supposed to also be a tool in poverty alleviation too.. but some how…. it’s unique position has resulted in it becoming a monopoly…… it’s role is similar to Indonesia’s Bulog - Badan Urusan Logistik Nasional…
Ha ha… in fact I’ve read somewhere some time ago that Bulog’s chairman want to learn from Bernas….. which he says is “highly successful”….. and one of the measure of that sucess is Bernas listing in the KLSE !
The Bulog chairman argued that Bulog was so corrupted that all the monopoly profits went to Suharto and his family… so he proposed that the current Bulog administrartion emulate Malaysia’s bernas !
But if I remember…there were some complains about Bernas neglecting the paddy farmers…. how far is this complain valid… I don’t know…
But I would like to know more if some one here has more information!
May 31st, 2006 at 6:05 pm
ogre,
indeed you and bakri are right to identify education as a priority for farmers. i also understand bakri mentioned education as per malaysian context. but what i am saying is in the Latin American, Asian and African agro experience, you might find it may not be the case many a times that farmers consider education to be a priority. what bakri proposes have been implemented in so many countries in the east but to really poor results.
now when this predicament arises, a policy maker cannot force the farmer to go to school. in many cases the policy makers kinda did. they set up schools and educational programs but since farmers never felt it to be a priority they never went or amongst those who went, many quit etc etc. so the first step perhaps is to inspire them to educate which may sound simple but is a hurculean task. its more difficult than setting up the agro education system for farmers. at the end of the whole ardous process of trying to inspire the farmers to educate themselves you will find that many wont want to undertake it. now at that dead end, you cannot blame them because we cannot impose upon them to educate.
in the experience of the some western countries, what they did when they hit this dead end was to construct an agro system around these realities. for instance i once had a big debate with some of your southern state officals who were lamenting that its difficult to modernize the agricultural industry when the farmers themselves are not keen or excited to participate.
now this is not just a malaysian problem. this problem exist in virtually every agricultural industry including US. even as Bakri mentions about the extensive educational programs in US, many millionaire or highly productive farmers never go participate in them. they are not few in number i must say. basically you see a dual system where there exists those educational opportunities for those farmers who are keen and much effort is spent to inspire all farmers to participate.
as for those farmers who still dont then other measuers such as cooperatives are implemented where the farmer only does what he really believes in while the rest of the cooperative does the rest of the work e.g. in most cases the farmer just concentrates on milking the cows and rearing them etc while cooperative members implement the technology, logistics, infrastructure, R&D, marketing, packaging, processing etc. but from the outside it looks to everybody the farmer does everything.
whatever it is in this framework, the farmer does what he wants and wishes and he gets income and price stability on top of high productivity. now again i must caution you wont be able to wholesale copy this model because in the west i suspect there ought to be greater participation in educational activities and supporting such cooperatives due to cultural and environmental reasons.
as for malaysia the cultural context of farmers just as in the case of L.American, other Asian countries and Africa, the response rate for education and cooperatives or other efforts may turn out be lower. here then to boost the participation and response rates you need a really creative and aggressive program to inspire them.
as for malaysia’s case you may even need a variety of initiatives targeting each cultural group of farmers. for instance for the malay farmers i will suggest that the best examples to follow will be the agro initiatives in the “islamic economics” that spanned from Harun Al-Rashid Baghdad era till the ottomans. Refer to this book Medieval Islamic Econonic Thought by Routledge publishers. you can find good descriptions of the agro policies which effectively inspired Muslim aggricultural communities since 800AD. these today will again play a role to inspire Malaysian Malay farmers to make education their priority and modernize through coopertization and other economic initiatives.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:50 pm
sorry i hit the submit button prematurely.
now as for indian farmers in malaysia, in the experience of indian farmers not just in malaysia but also sri lanka, india you find almost similar examples of social problems which contributes as a strong hurdle for their development. me being of indian origin having strong contacts in india and srilanka, i am a little familiar with them. therefore within this group you need a different approach whereby influencing them to actively participate in the modernizing programs will require policy makers to first resolve social issues within the indian farmers. once again policy makers will be the worst experts to do it and may require them to rope in religious, social or community institutions( i said institutions not organizations) to be the champions and planners in implementing initiatives to tackle those social issues.
as for chinese farmers, they very well may have the inspiration to participate in the modernizing reforms. these farmers ought to be given much opportunities. should policy makers have concern about that distribution of income, income inequalities across all farmers may be affected as a result of this, they can use other redistributive policies and also ownership policies to check this. it will only be prudent and critical to implement such policies to avoid future social unrests as such that we saw in zimbawe where distribution of income and ownership of land was skewed in a such an adverse way to create tensions.
as i mentioned before aggricultural policy making is as difficult as predicting the weather. we cannot find ground breaking solutions in blogs, newspapers etc by the ingenuity of those not trained in these areas. as much as malaysian government may believe it has the critical mass of human capital for reforms in the aggricultural industry. the policy makers still do not have sufficient knowledge of aggro systems across the world as much as they naively believe they do. working trips and study trips will never be able to generate such deep understanding that is needed. the malaysian policy makers also do not have sufficient resources and documentation of traditional aggricultural policies both in malaysia and across the world. even in 2006 the equipment and raw technology for agriculture may be different than 500 years ago but still the good policies then that motivated farmers then may work equally effectively today also. the reason why i am stressing on finding solutions in traditional aggricultural policies is because aggriculture is the oldest industry in the world and its not a new phenomenon and the many of the issues faced today were present all along. so solutions for these may very well lie then.
i am able to speak much even though i am a city dweller because i have lived in the country side for four years, but more importantly the practical experience i have include the active relationships i had with agro boards such as wheat and dairy boards in Canada and had even farmer friends and the academic/research experience i had gained is also ample. even then i will only assert that should i become a policy maker within the agro industry, my background wont be sufficient as it really takes a lot more years of practical experience and academic/research experience to be one. malaysia not only reform its farmers but also its policy makers. there needs to be more independent agro boards that carry out much R&D into these kinds of issues
May 31st, 2006 at 11:41 pm
uberculturejohor
I thank you for your thoughs, insight and and suggestions. yes you are right in almost all cases about educating the farmers is a herculean effort and not many farmers wants to go to college.
I believe that we should not focus on the present day farmers but on students who wish to enter into farming or students who will inherit the farms when thier parents passes on. Like they say most of the old farmers will live by the words “can’t teach old dogs new tricks” Yes even in the US the old small time farmers still practice their old ways but there are now more Gentleman farmers and new groups entering the farming business and operating farms as large as 1,000 acres. These commercial farmers obtain their knowledge from somewhere. They operate on better economies of scale, use combine harvesters, use genetically modified seeds for better harvest and crops that can withstand severe weather conditions or bugs. Certainly these farmers learn all these from somewhere.
Look at the wine industry. California is now one of the largest wine making region. This only happen within the last 20 years. Now the vineyards are more sophisticated and wine making is now an art. More and more moneyed people gave up their career to invest and become vintners. These people go back to college to learn about grape growing and wine making. So it can be done but ever so slowly.
California is the vegetable garden to the US. Strawberries, grapes, lettuce, tomatoes, oranges, avocados, pistachios, and even dates to name some. How did this happen? Not by chance and not by small time farmers. Farm in the San Joaquin valleys are huge and runs into hundreds of acres each. They are mechanized and produce standard products meeting the USDA standards. Indio produces so much dates and with so many varieties that they can export to the Middle East. Next time you buy Mejdool dates, don’t be surprised that is it grown in Indio. By the way California is desert land yet these farmers have been able to turn this arrid land into the most productive farms.
So it can be done but the mindset have to change. Anyway it’s nice to have this type of exchange. thank you for the references. I will be sure to look them up.
Cheers, over and out
June 1st, 2006 at 12:09 am
I’m putting up a plan to start “lembu daging” business somewhere inside the jungle of Pahang. Need partners. Anyone interested?
Come on! Let’s answer Dr.Bakri’s challenge! Let’s put our thoughts into practice! Let’s walk the talk!
Oh, you dont want to partner me? My god, I’m going to miss your expert opinions! Pity me.
June 1st, 2006 at 5:56 am
HantuGigiJarang
Ever heard of Darabif? This project was started way way back i believe in the late 70’s. Exactly, to start raising lembu daging in the jugle of Pahang. You should partner with PKNP. They have done almost everything in agriculture from farming, beef cattle to aqua culture.
Also do you remember the Lembu Pawah project where the governments gives cows to the small farmers to raise and breed. Instead the cows ended up the abbattoir. Short lived.
Several farmers have already attempted cattle raising and have been successful to develop a new breed 1/4 long horn, 1/4 Frisian and 1/2 Brahmin. These are hardy animals well suited to the tropical climate and yet producing milk and beef. I believe the breed was developed by UPM but i may be wrong.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:14 pm
ogre
creating new breed of new born farmers brings about equal amount tough challenges as creating a new breed of born again farmers. its not a easier at all. aggriculture requires a great deal of practical knowledge that can only be gained over long periods of time like decades. some of this practical knowledge is passed down. hence new students will not be able to learn this within their time in universities and believing their university education is powerful enough to make a change is as naive. the dilemma is the same with business students in universities and traditional businessmen. therefore any reforms require both sets of players playing equal roles.
in fact i dont think you quite adequately understand what these two are really suitable for. the students coming from universities are more suitable to implement technologies in the farms, tackle the logistical issues, carry out effective marketing programs, plan good pricing policies, establish good processing and packaging factories, management etc etc. the traditonal/conventional farmers are required to carry out actual farm work from breeding cattle, planting crops, harvesting them etc. the university kid will never be able to do the job of the latter as proficiently as the latter no matter how well he is trained in university/college. and vice versa. this is how farms in north america work.
also reliance on new students and training them and having them take the lead in the industry will dislocate conventional farmers. should the former group fail, then aggricultural output will drop really badly.
in US you have a culture of farmers breeding farmers. firstly you have many farmers continuing their family tradition. new farmers from universities then spend time with traditional farming communities and learn over time.
in malaysia the biggest hurdle is going to be human capital. not technology, equipment blah blah. as long as the malaysian aggricultural industry do not attain necessary critical mass and quality of human capital needed for the industry, no modernization reforms, how ingenious and brilliant they may be, will work.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Hantu Gigi Jarang
johor already had a program where they wanted to twin cattle breeding programs with plantation development. they introduced i think like 80000 cows but today they cannot account any.
the policy was not a bad one but the human capital required to implement this successfully was not there.
dairy consumption in malaysia is about $2billion much of which is imported. only about less than $150million of dairy products is produced locally. there is a lot of opportunities to exploit in the dairy industry in malaysia.
June 6th, 2006 at 1:32 am
Thanks Ogre & uberculturejohor,
I shall remember your words. My late father was a succesful farmer once, and cattle rearer too. He did mention to me one day that what he’s doing is really to “berbakti kepada tanah” more than anything else. Along the way, and if our intention is right, the land will reward us.
I believe this and I just want to continue this deed.
Regards