Fertilizer Use Malaysia

Fertilizer use by cropin Malaysia

Fertilizer use by cropin Malaysia

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 2004

Land and Plant Nutrition Management Service

Land and Water Development Division

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© FAO 2004

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Fertilizer use by crop in MalaysiaFirst version, published by FAO, Rome, 2004

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsViale delle Terme di Caracalla00100 Rome, ItalyTel.: +(39) 06 57051Fax: +(39) 06 57053360E-mail: [email protected] site: www.fao.org

iii

Contents

Abstract vii

Acknowldegements viii

Preface ix

Abbreviations x

1. Introduction 1Background 1

Farming and Cropping Systems 2

2. Agro-ecological zones 5West or Peninsular Malaysia 7

East Malaysia 9

3. The fertilizer sector 13Mineral fertilizers 13

Organic fertilizers 13

Production and marketing 14

Imports and exports 16

4. Fertilizer consumption by crop 21Industrial crops 22

Fruit crops 27

Vegetable crops 27

Cash crops 28

Spices 29

5. Profitability of fertilizer use 31Fertilizer and crop prices 31

6. The future of fertilizer use 35Site-specific management 35

Integrated farming systems 35

iv

References 37

Annexes1. Fertilizer use recommendation 41

2. Crop names 43

3. Fruit crops 45

4. Vegetable crops 51

5. Cash crops, spices and other crops 55

v

List of figures

1. Agro-ecological regions of Peninsular Malaysia 7

2. Dominant soil map of Malaysia 8

3. Agro-ecological regions of Sarawak 10

4. Marketing and distribution channel of fertilizers in Malaysia 16

5. Fertilizer imports: quantity 18

6. Fertilizer imports: value 18

7. Urea exports 19

vi

List of tables

1. Agricultural production (‘000 tonnes), 1995 and 2000, forecast to 2005 1

2. Matrix of suitable and marginally suitable crops recommended for cultivation in States of Malaysia 6

3. Summary of the characteristics of the AEZ of Sarawak 11

4. Number and area of organic producers per State in 2001 14

5. Fertilizer imports 17

6. Fertilizer nutrient consumption by crop groups (‘000 tonnes) 21

7 . Rubber: harvested area and average yield 22

8. Oil-palm: harvested area and average FFB yield 23

9. Coconut: harvested area and average yield 23

10. Paddy: harvested area and average yield 24

11. Cocoa: harvested area and average yield 24

12. Tobacco: harvested area and average yield 24

13. Rubber: estimated a fertilizer use 25

14. Oil-palm: estimated a fertilizer use 25

15. Coconut: estimated fertilizer use 26

16. Paddy: estimated fertilizer use 26

17. Cocoa: estimated fertilizer use 26

19. Summary of fertilizer use: Industrial crops 27

18. Tobacco: estimated fertilizer use 27

20. Fruit crops: summary of total fertilizer use 28

21. Vegetable crops: summary of total fertilizer use 28

22. Cash crops: summary of total fertilizer use 29

23. Spices: summary of total fertilizer use 29

24. Farm gate selling prices of crop produce 32

25. Fertilizer prices (RM) in December 2003 per 50-kg bag of selected fertilizer products in various states 33

26. Crop fertilizer price ratios in 2003 for selected fruit and vegetable crops 33

vii

Abstract

Agriculture has played a key role in the development of modern Malaysia, resulting in the country becoming the world’s leading palm oil producer and the third largest producer of natural rubber. Agriculture continues to make a significant contribution to the national economy. In 2003, the agriculture sector registered a growth of 5.5 percent, following in importance the manufacturing and the service sectors. In 2004, the government of Malaysia declared the agriculture sector to be the third engine of growth.

The government’s policy towards agriculture focuses on increasing production, in order to achieve food self-sufficiency and to develop exports in an efficient and competitive manner. For the crops sector, this effectively means expansion and/or intensification of cultivation, resulting in an increased need for and a more efficient use of agricultural inputs, particularly mineral fertilizers.

Malaysia imports most of its fertilizer requirements but exports large quantities of urea fertilizer.

The government provides subsidies to smallholder farmers for the purchase of fertilizers, through farmers’ associations. Owing to the large number of distributors and companies involved in the fertilizer trade, fertilizers are accessible to farmers in all parts of the country, at competitive prices.

Oil-palm is the crop that consumes by far the largest quantity of fertilizer in Malaysia, as a result of the large area planted to oil-palm, both in plantations and under the smallholders’ management system. Other factors are the palm’s high requirements for potassium and phosphorus fixation by the mainly acidic soils of the country.

The use of organic fertilizers is increasing, especially on vegetable farms, for environmental reasons and as a result of consumer concern about hazards from mineral fertilizers.

It is expected that, with a more efficient management of mineral fertilizers, the adoption of site-specific fertilizer management, integrated farming and organic farming systems, the use of mineral fertilizers will stabilize in future.

viii

Acknowledgements

Professor Zaharah Abdul Rahman of the Department of Land Management of Universiti Putra Malaysia compiled this report. Data and maps for this report were obtained from various government agencies including the Departments of Agriculture of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah and the Department of Statistics.

The study benefited from the contributions of K. Isherwood; J. Poulisse and T. van den Bergen, FAO Land and Water Development Division.

The background photograph (tea) is from FAO Mediabase: FAO/17352/Faidutti. The source of the other photographs is EcoPort made by R. Pellis (jackfruit), S. Saamin (starfruit) and Pamol Plantations (oil-palm).

ix

Preface

This study, commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is one of a series of publications on fertilizer use on crops in different countries.

The aim of the series is to examine the agro-ecological conditions, the structure of farming, cropping patterns, the availability and use of mineral and organic plant nutrients, the economics of fertilizers, research and advisory requirements and other factors that have led to present fertilizer usage. The reports examine, country by country, the factors that will or should determine the future development of plant nutrition.

During the past two decades, increasing attention has been paid to the adverse environmental impact of both the under use and the over use of plant nutrients. The efficient use of plant nutrients, whether from mineral fertilizers or from other sources, involves the shared responsibility of many segments of society, including international organizations, governments, the fertilizer industry, agricultural research and advisory bodies, traders and farmers. The publications in the series are addressed to all these parties.

Fertilizer use is not an end in itself. Rather it is a means of achieving increased food and fibre production. Increased agricultural production and food availability can, in turn, be seen as an objective for the agricultural sector in the context of contributing to the broader macroeconomic objectives of society. A review of the options available to policy-makers is given in the FAO/International Fertilizer Industry Association 1999 publication entitled “Fertilizer Strategies”.

The contents of the series studies differ considerably from country to country, in view of their different structures, histories and food situation. But in each case the aim is to arrive at a better understanding of the nutrition of crops in the country concerned.

x

Abbreviations

AEZ Agro-ecological zoneAPO Asian Productivity Organizationa.s.l. above sea levelCAE Crop Area EquivalentCETDEM Centre for Environment, Technology and Development,

MalaysiaDOA Department of AgricultureDOS Department of StatisticsEFB Empty Fruit BunchesEPU Economic Planning UnitFADINAP Fertilizer Advisory, Development and Information Network

for Asia and the PacificFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFCR Fertilizer Cost RatioFELCRA Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation AuthorityFELDA Federal Land Development AuthorityFFB Fresh Fruit BunchFOA Farmers’ Organization AuthorityFUE Fertilizer Use EfficiencyIBSRAM International Board for Soil Research and ManagementIFS Integrated Farming SystemsMADI Malaysian Agricultural Directory and IndexMARDI Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development InstituteMCB Malaysian Cocoa BoardMOA Ministry of AgricultureMPI Ministry of Primary IndustriesMPOB Malaysian Palm Oil BoardMRB Malaysian Rubber BoardNAP3 Third National Agricultural PolicyPOME Palm Oil Mill EffluentPPD Plant Population Density (per hectare)

xi

RAPA Regional Office for Asia and the PacificRISDA Rubber Industry Smallholders Development AuthorityRM Malaysian RinggitSEDC State Economic Development CorporationSSM Site Specific ManagementTE Trace Elementst/ha Tonnes per hectareVRA Variable Rate Application

1

Chapter 1

Introduction

BACKGROUNDAgriculture has played a vital role in the development of modern Malaysia and continues to make a significant contribution to the national economy. The plantation sector, especially oil-palm, still leads the world in terms of vegetable oil production and research and development.

Malaysia’s agriculture sector was accorded renewed and extra importance by the government after the economic crisis of 1997, with a particular drive to reduce the food importation bill. The balance of trade in the food sector in 2001 was RM6.1 billion (US$1.6 billion). In the year 2002, Malaysia's import and export of food was RM13 billion and RM7 billion, respectively. This represented an import deficit bill of RM6 million. Meeting the challenge of enhanced and more efficient agricultural

TABLE 1Agricultural production (‘000 tonnes), 1995 and 2000, forecast to 2005

Commodity 1995 2000 2005

Rubber 1 089 616 560

Crude Palm Oil 7 811 10 840 12 416

Cocoa 131 70 115

Pepper 13 24 30

Pineapple 140 184 264

Tobacco 10 11 15

Paddy 2 127 2 235 2 813

Fruits1 1 020 1 376 1 982

Vegetables1 718 1 019 1 390

Coconut2 1 389 550 824

1 Refers to commercial cultivation.2 Measured in million units.Source: Eighth Malaysia Plan, 2001-2005.

Fertilizer use by crop in Malaysia 2

production was one of the primary objectives for increasing the exports and reducing the imports of agricultural commodities.

The government formulated a strategic agricultural development master plan, referred to as The Third National Agricultural Policy or NAP3 for 1998 – 2010 (Ministry of Agriculture, 1999). The projected sales target for food crops between the years 2001 to 2005 was set at RM27 billion (US$7.1 billion).

The projected increases in agricultural production to the year 2005 for some crops are shown in Table 1 (Economic Planning Unit, 2001). An inevitable result of this policy for enhanced agricultural growth is the expansion and/or further intensification of land use for agriculture. Between 1995 and 2000, agricultural land use increased from about 5.7 million hectares to about 6.0 million hectares.

The importance of fertilizers cannot be sufficiently emphasized for achieving increased crop production. The cultivation of high yielding crop varieties requires a high and regular supply of macro- and micronutrients to achieve sustained and high crop growth and yield. The government provides an attractive and motivating environment for this purpose, including incentives for the development, expansion and modernization of the fertilizer industry, in order to meet the challenges of competition in the agriculture industry. Since fertilizer is usually the largest variable cost item in a crop farm budget, these incentives or actions are intended to improve efficiency in the fertilizer industry and to minimize fertilizer prices.

FARMING AND CROPPING SYSTEMSAlthough rice (paddy) cultivation is the major food crop enterprise in Malaysia, accounting for about 0.67 million ha for all seasons in 2001 (Ministry of Agriculture, 2003), oil-palm, rubber, coconut and durian also occupy large areas in the agricultural cropping systems. In 2001, there were 3.63, 1.57, 0.15 and 0.12 million ha of oil-palm, rubber, coconut and durian, respectively. Together with paddy, these crops covered almost 97 percent of the total cultivated agricultural land in Malaysia (Department of Agriculture, 2003).

Three farm categories exist for crop production, namely the smallholders, the new land development schemes and the large commercial

Chapter 1 – Introduction 3

(estate or plantation) holdings. The new land development schemes (FELDA, FELCRA and State Economic Development Corporation - SEDC) are initiated by the public sector. The FELDA schemes have holding sizes of 4.04 ha of agriculture area (planted with oil-palm or rubber) and a 0.10 ha house lot for each farm-holding family.

The smallholdings are those whose area is less than 40 ha, the majority having on average between 0.5 and 3.0 ha. These smallholders usually practice some form of mixed cropping, mostly food crops. Small farm sizes have been a major cause of the low incomes of many smallholders, due to diseconomies of scale. The government of Malaysia, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is committed to overcome this problem by grouping small farms into mini-estates and “group-farming” in order to achieve economies of scale, better farm resource management and production sustainability. This is one of the government’s policies for improving the living standards of the rural poor and small farmers.

Large holdings (> 40 ha) are those of the commercial plantations. Their production is well organized for both local and overseas markets. In almost all cases, they practice monocropping (Ramli and Wong, 1989).

To sustain high yields under these cropping systems, the application of large quantities of fertilizers is an important component. According to the Department of Statistics' figures, in the year 2001 alone, about 1.32 million nutrient tonnes of mineral fertilizers were imported into Malaysia, costing RM1.14 billion (US$0.3 billion). However, there is a gradual trend to complement or substitute mineral fertilizers with some form of organic fertilizers, where feasible. This is a result of increasing fertilizer prices and the environmental hazards of their use.

5

Chapter 2

Agro-ecological zones

Malaysia has a total land area of 339 733 km2, consisting of two geographical regions (West or Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia). These regions are separated by the South China Sea. Their climatic and agro-ecological environments are somewhat different despite their belonging to the same warm humid tropics classification. The two regions are therefore described separately.

Malaysia characteristically experiences heavy rainfall (2 540 mm p.a. and above), average daily temperatures of 21-32oC and a humidity averaging about 85 percent. The seasonal variation in solar radiation is low, resulting in an annual difference in day length of only 2 minutes along the equator and 49 minutes in northern regions. In consequence, there is a year round day length of 12.5 hours (Nieuwolt, 1982).

About 72 percent of Malaysian soils are Ultisols and Oxisols, which are acidic and highly weathered (International Board for Soil Research and Management - IBSRAM, 1985). This has implications for phosphate fertilizer use due to fixation. This problem is dealt with through the biennial addition of about 2 to 4 t/ha of limestone (Shamshuddin et al., 1992).

The major regions characteristically have similar rainfall patterns, lengths of growing period and thermal patterns during the growing season. There are, however, exceptions in certain highland areas such as the Cameron Highlands, Pahang, where crops such as tea and strawberries, that do well in cool environments, are grown.

Data on crop areas and production in Malaysia are based on classification by state and not on the agro-ecological zones (AEZ). Therefore, the data presented in this report are on a state basis and, in some cases, on a regional basis (West and East Malaysia). There is a broad spectrum of crops grown throughout the country but the predominance of


crops in terms of area and production varies from state to state depending on the crops’ suitability to local conditions. This is reflected in the ranking of crops as suitable (A) and marginally suitable (B) as shown in Table 2 in the form of a matrix for all the states of Malaysia.

TABLE 2Matrix of suitable and marginally suitable crops recommended for cultivation in States of Malaysia

STATE

CROP

Rubber A B A A A A A B A A A A A

Coconut A A A A - A A - A - A A -

Oil-palm A A B A A A A B A A A A A

Cocoa A - - A A A A - - A A A B

Coffee A A A B A A A B A - - A A

Paddy A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Tobacco - A A - - - - A B - - - A

Starfruit A A B A B A A B A - B A A

Papaya B B B A B A A B A - A A B

Cempedak A A A A A A B B A - B A A

Durian B A A A A A A A B - A A A

Sweet orange A A A A A A A A B - A A A

Mango A A A A B A A A A - B A A

Mongosteen A A A B B A A B A - A A A

Pineapple A A A A A A A B A - A A A

Jackfruit A A A A A A A A A - A A A

Banana A A B A B B A B A - A B A

Rambutan A A A A A A A B A - A A A

Water melon A A A A A A A A B - A A A

Chinese spinach A A A A A A A B A - - A B

Lady's fingers A A A A A A A B A - - A B

Chilli A A A A A A A A A - - A A

Long bean A A A A A A A A A - - A A

Cucumber A A A A A A A A A - - A A

Tomato A B A A B A B B B - - A A

Hot chilli A A A A B A A B B - - B A

Ginger A B A B B A A B A - - A B

Pepper A - - - - - - - - B A - -

Lime A A A A A A A A A - - A A

Lemon grass A A A A A A A A A - - A A

Maize B A A B A A A A A - - A A

Groundnut B B A B B A A B B - - B A

Cassava B A B B B A A A B - - B B

Sweet potato A B A A B B B B B - - A B

Sago B B B - - - - - - - A - -

A = Suitable; B = Marginally suitable

Johor Kedah Kelantan MelakaN

Sembilan Pahang Perak Perlis Pinang Sabah Sarawak Selangor Terengganu

Chapter 2 – Agro-ecological zones 7

WEST OR PENINSULAR MALAYSIAWest or Peninsular Malaysia has an area of 131 587 km2 (13.16 million ha), of which 8.10 million ha is arable. It consists of twelve administrative states namely Perlis (the smallest), Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Federal Territory (included in Selangor), Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang (the largest), Terengganu, and Kelantan. The area as a whole is composed of 80 percent lowland and 20 percent highland (Lim and Chan, 1993). The AEZs of West Malaysia are shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the major soil groups of Malaysia.

100° E

PERLIS

PULAUPINANG

KEDAR

XELANTAR

PAHANG

State boundaries

Highland 300 – 900 a.s.l.

Highland over 900 a.s.l.

Regions with a clear and regular dry season

Regions with a short, but fairly regular dry season

Regions without a regular dry season

Areas where Histosols predominate

MALACCAJOHOR

NEGERISEMBILAN

TEREN

GG

AN

U

SELANGO

R

PERAK

6°

4°

N2°

6°

4°

N2°

102° 104°

100° E 102° 104°

FIGURE 1Agro-ecological regions of Peninsular Malaysia

Source: Adapted from Nieuwolt et al., 1982.


114o106o

114o106o

4o4o

At – Ferric AcrisolsAh – Humic AcrisolsAo – Orthic AcrisolsBf – Ferralic CambisolsFr – Rhodic FerralsolsGd – Dystric GleysolsGe – Eutric GleysolsI – LithosolsJe – Eutric FluvisolsLk – Calcic LuvisolsLo – Orthic LuvisolsNd – Distric NitosolsOd – Dystric HistosolsPg – Gleyic PodzolsOa – Albic ArenosolsRe – Eutric Regosols

FIGURE 2Dominant soil map of Malaysia

Original scale 1:5 millionSource: DSMW – FAO/UNESCO.

Knowledge about the soils on which fertilizers are to be applied is important for better fertilizer management and use efficiency. In Malaysia as a whole, there are three groups of lowland soils considered as problem soils, namely the sandy soils (Beach ridge [bris] and tin-tailings), peat and acid-sulphate soils. These soils usually require specific amendments for successful agricultural use. In Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, about 155 400 and 40 400 ha of bris soils exist respectively (Thomas, 1966). In 1995, the total area of tin-tailing areas in Peninsular Malaysia was estimated to be approximately 200 000 ha. It is estimated that tin-tailing areas in Peninsular Malaysia are expanding at a rate of 4 000 ha annually (Aziz, 1995), which gives an estimated area of 236 000 ha in 2004.


There are approximately 2.4 million ha of peat in Malaysia, of which 0.8, 1.5 and 0.1 million ha are located in West Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah, respectively.

The problems of the loss of applied fertilizer by leaching are serious on sandy and peat soils. Farmers adopt appropriate management practices, such as split application according to crop requirements. For the acid soils, the main problem as regards fertilizer use is phosphate fixation. This is dealt with by lime amendment and the direct application of phosphate rocks.

EAST MALAYSIAEast Malaysia consists of two states: Sarawak (123 466 km2) in the southwest and Sabah (73 711 km2) in the northeast. The total arable land areas of Sarawak and Sabah are of 5.31 and 2.15 million ha respectively. The mean annual rainfall in Sarawak is between 2 500 and 5 000 mm, and is fairly well distributed, with no month below 100 mm (Andriesse, 1968). Similar rainfall conditions exist in Sabah, which is moist and wet throughout the year, especially towards the interior, a few rain shadow areas being an exception.

The characteristics of the AEZ’s and the soils of Sarawak, including their agricultural suitability, are summarized in Table 3. Most of Sabah has very steep land. The major soils include Fluvisols and Gleysols (S1), Lithosols, Regosols and Cambisols (S3), Luvisols and Nitosols (S5), Acrisols and Ferralsols (S6) and Histosols (S7). The codes in parenthesis represent equivalent groups proposed by Panabokke (1979). The S3 soils group includes all the shallow soils of the highlands and the Regosols of the alluvial plains and is therefore the most extensive. This is followed by the S6 group, which constitutes the major agricultural soils. Groups S1 and S5 are less extensive; the S1 group is extensively cultivated with paddy and the S5 with dry land crops. Group S7 is mainly peat, occurring in relatively large blocks, and is used largely for commercial pineapple production. Large areas of S7 are now being opened up for oil-palm and sago. Sarawak’s AEZ’s are shown in Figure 3. They comprise twelve classes.


Coastal organic plainsInland organic plainsSaline clay plainsLower riverine zoneUpper riverine zoneUndulating + hilly sedimentaryIgneous hilly + mountainousMountainousDissected karstSteep mountainous sedimentarySteep very high mountainousFreshwater

200 km

Leyend

FIGURE 3Agro-ecological regions of Sarawak

Source: Department of Agriculture, Sarawak.


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13

Chapter 3

The fertilizer sector

MINERAL FERTILIZERSMineral fertilizers account for more than 90 percent of fertilizers used by all types of farming systems in Malaysia. The main fertilizers are urea, ammonium sulphate, calcium ammonium nitrate, phosphate rock, super phosphates, ammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, potassium sulphate and NPK, NP and PK compound fertilizers. Due to the rapid expansion in crop production, especially of plantation crops (rubber, oil-palm and cocoa) there has been a corresponding increase in fertilizer use. Potassium fertilizers have shown the largest increase. This large increase in the use of potassium fertilizer is due to the continued expansion of oil-palm cultivation, which requires significant amounts of this nutrient. The estimated nutrient removed by oil-palm (producing 25 t/ha fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per year) are 192, 11, 209, 36 and 71 kg/ha per year of N, P, K, Mg and Ca, respectively (Goh and Hardter, 2003).

Organic fertilizersThe government is promoting the use of organic fertilizers in Malaysia for two main reasons. Firstly, organic agriculture is seen as important for the sustainable use and management of natural resources. Secondly, in the NAP3, organic agriculture is identified as a niche market opportunity for fruits and vegetables. In the NAP3, the government is prepared to provide additional one-off assistance in infrastructural development to organic farmers, in addition to eligibility for existing credit schemes and special loans. Organic farmers will also be helped in the marketing of their produce in the domestic and international market.

In an effort to reduce the dependence on mineral fertilizers and to move towards more natural and healthier methods of food production,


the government is promoting programmes that encourage the recycling and use of agricultural waste. This includes rice straw and husk, empty oil-palm fruit bunches (EFB), saw dust, animal droppings, palm oil mill effluent (POME) and other materials (Faridah, 2001). The use of EFB at 37.5 t/ha per year in oil-palm fields has been shown to increase the FFB yield significantly and to improve soil exchangeable K, Ca, Mg and the pH (Lim and Zaharah, 2000).

The Centre of Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia (CETDEM) has been involved in many conversions of farms, especially vegetable producing farms, into organic farms. There are various forms of organic farming types in Malaysia, including nature farms, biodynamic farms, ecofarms, permaculture, Kyusu nature farms and Yoko farms (Hock, 1999). In 2001, there were 27 organic producers covering a total area of 131 ha (Table 4). This represents a fivefold increase in the number of organic enterprises compared with 1996. The government plans to increase the organic production area by 250 ha in the period 2001-2005 (Wai, 2001).

PRODUCTION AND MARKETINGMost of the fertilizer used in Malaysia is produced abroad. Urea, ammonium based and organic fertilizers are produced in large amounts but the urea used in Malaysia for agriculture is not locally produced material. This is because the prilled urea produced in Malaysia fetches

TABLE 4Number and area of organic producers per State in 2001State Number Area (ha)

Selangor 4 10.8

Negri Sembilan 10 90

Melaka 2 1.1

Johor 2 3.5

Pahang 6 11.6

Sabah 2 12

Sarawak 1 2

Total 27 131Source: Wai, 2001.

Chapter 3 – The fertilizer sector 15

a high price in the international market and is therefore exported. The parent fertilizer producing company, has two subsidiaries involved in the production of urea. These are:

• one subsidiary was incorporated in 1980 and located in Bintulu, Sarawak. The plant has a capacity to produce 600 000 tonnes of granular urea and 420 000 tonnes of prilled urea per annum.

• the other came into operation in 1999 and is located in Gurun, Kedah. It has an annual capacity of 650 000 tonnes granular urea. This second plant exports about 65 percent of its products to Australia, Thailand and other South East Asian agricultural countries. The remainder is sold to the National Farmers’ Association, Malaysia’s largest urea consumer, for distribution in Malaysia.

Most of the companies involved in fertilizer production engage in the mixing of straight fertilizers to produce compound fertilizers. The fertilizer industry in Malaysia is efficient and highly competitive. There are over 50 companies involved in the branded fertilizer trade with over 350 brands of various forms of fertilizers (Malaysian Agriculture Directory and Index, 2004).

The normal channels of distribution are shown in Figure 4. The Government, in its drive to help farmers, particularly smallholders, to procure fertilizers has:

• stimulated fertilizer consumption through subsidy and credit schemes;

• facilitated the supply and distribution of fertilizers through FELDA, RISDA, FELCRA and FOA;

• stimulated the establishment of a large number of distribution points through farmers’ cooperatives;

• improved the cost-value ratio between fertilizers and agricultural produce by providing price support;

• provided extension services, research on fertilizer use and quality control (FADINAP, 1984).

The government has also encouraged suppliers to market fertilizers in packages smaller than 50-kg bags, to allow farmers who cannot afford 50-kg bags to purchase lesser quantities.


IMPORTS AND EXPORTSThe total value of fertilizer imported into Malaysia fell from RM1 434 million in 1998 to RM1 144 million in 2001 (Department of Statistics, 2001). The importation of some of the major fertilizers for 2000 and 2001 are compared with 1998 in Table 5 and the imports from 1998 to 2001 are illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

There was an increase in total fertilizer imports from 1997 to 2000 but imports declined by about 26 percent between 2000 and 2001. Figures 5 and 6 show that the greatest increase in imports was that of potassic fertilizers, due to a rapid increase in area planted to oil-palm.

In 2001, nitrogenous fertilizers were imported from Indonesia (33 percent), the Russian Federation (14 percent), Saudi Arabia (17 percent) and other countries (37 percent), with a total value of RM83 million.

The importation of phosphatic fertilizers is mainly in the form of phosphate rock. In 2001, 30, 21, 12 and 26 percent were imported from Christmas Island, Tunisia, China and Australia respectively. The value of the imports totaled RM73 million.

IMPORTERS

PRODUCERS

Governmentland

developmentand rehabilitation

StatutoryBodies, eg.

NationalTobacco

Board

National Farmers'

Association

Wholesalersprivate

Farmersorganization/cooperatives

Retailers'dealers

Small/mediumestates

Memberestates

Field levelIndividualfarmers

MembersTobaccofarmers

Schememembers

Local anddevelopment

schemes

Tobaccocurers

Estatesagencies

Largeestates

FIGURE 4Marketing and distribution channel of fertilizers in Malaysia

Source: FADINAP, 1984.


TABLE 5Fertilizer imports

* Including tablets

As regards potassic fertilizers, in 2001 26, 24, 12, 15 and 25 percent were imported from the Russian Federation, Canada, the United States, Japan and other countries respectively, totaling RM493 million.

1998 2000 2001

Quantity (‘000

tonnes)

Value (million

RM)

Quantity (‘000

tonnes)

Value (million

RM)

Quantity (‘000

tonnes)

Value (million

RM)

Nitrogen

Urea 231 114 234 110 173 85

Ammonium sulphate 678 206 723 211 474 152

Calcium ammonium nitrate

12 6 6 3 1 0.3

Other nitrogenous fertilizers

9 6 29 14 29 11

Subtotal 930 332 992 338 677 248

Phosphate

Superphosphate 11 5 5 3 3 2

Ammonium phosphate 47 50 62 40 33 25

Phosphate rock (ground) 526 133 428 97 272 60

Phosphate rock (unground)

79 17 92 19 60 12

Other phosphatic fertilizers

93 25 131 29 153 36

Subtotal 756 230 718 188 521 135

Potash

KCl 871 421 1051 517 821 412

K2SO4 6 6 9 7 36 19

Other potassic fertilizers 291 153 182 94 132 69

Subtotal 1 168 580 1 242 618 989 500

Others

NPK compounds 157 135 174 129 127 100

Others * 8 9 37 25 6 10

Subtotal 165 144 211 154 133 110

Organic

Guano 2 2 1 1 1 1

Other organic fertilizers 5 4 1 1 2 2

Subtotal 7 6 2 2 3 3

Total Malaysia 3 026 1 292 3 165 1 300 2 323 996


Malaysia exports large quantities of urea and the export value and the quantity increased between 1997 and 2001 but declined slightly in 2002 (Figure 7). In 2001, RM446 million worth of urea was exported: to Australia (26 percent), Thailand (22 percent), Vietnam (6 percent), Japan (7 percent), Korea (4 percent) and other countries (40 percent).

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Years

'00

0 to

nn

es

Nitrogen Phosphate Potash Compounds

FIGURE 5Fertilizer imports: quantity

200

0

400

600

800

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Years

RM

millio

n

Nitrogen Phosphate Potash Compounds

FIGURE 6Fertilizer imports: value


0

200

400

600

800

1 000

1 200

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Mil

lio

n t

on

ne

s

0

100

200

300

400

500

Millio

n R

M

Quantity Value

FIGURE 7Urea exports

21

Chapter 4

Fertilizer consumption by crop

In this chapter the harvested area, estimated average yields and estimated use of N, P2O5 and K2O are given for selected crops in Malaysia.

The average yields were estimated from the crop area equivalent (CAE), harvested area and production data. In each case, the production data in kg or tonnes was divided by the total area harvested (hectares) to obtain the average yield. The CAE represents the total area harvested in the year from crops that have more than one cropping season a year.

Fertilizer use on each crop was estimated from recommended fertilizer rates, the expected yields and actual yields per hectare. According to these calculations, the estimated fertilizer nutrient consumption for each of the groups of crops is as follows (Table 6).

According to these figures, on average in 2000 and 2001, the industrial crops accounted for 96 percent of total nutrient use, fruit crops for 3 percent, vegetable crops for 0.3 percent, cash crops and spices for the remainder. Paddy is included in the group of industrial crops. The estimated total nutrient consumption on paddy amounted to 63 500 tonnes nutrient in 2000/01, i.e. 5.6 percent of the total of industrial crops, 5.4 percent of all crops.

In some cases, data were unavailable and their unavailability is indicated by a hyphen in the tables. In the tables, 1997/99 and 2000/02 indicate the three year averages.

TABLE 6Fertilizer nutrient consumption by crop groups (‘000 tonnes)

N P2O5 K2O

2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002Industrial 319 331 334 333 348 348 468 481 478

Fruit 11 11 14 11 11 14 14 14 18

Vegetables 1.2 1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.7 1.5 1.6

Cash crops 1.2 1.1 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.5 1.3 1.2 0.9

Spices 0.5 0.5 1.2 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.7 1.7

Total 333 345 351 346 361 364 486 498 500


INDUSTRIAL CROPSThe industrial crops of Malaysia include rubber, coconut, oil-palm, cocoa, coffee, paddy, sugar cane, tea and tobacco. In 2001, these crops occupied 5.9 million ha (93.6 percent) of the total cultivated area.

Tables 7 to 12 show the harvested area and estimated average yields for the period 1997 to 2002 for rubber, oil-palm, paddy, coconut, cocoa and tobacco respectively, for the various states in Malaysia. The national average yields of the aforementioned crops in 2001 were 963, 19 140 (FFB), 3 110, 149, 996 and 4 665 kg/ha respectively.

The years selected for the tables are 1997, 2000 and 2001 (or 2001 and 2002 if available) for each of the six crops. Tables 7 to 12 show the harvested areas and average yields, by state, for each crop. Tables 13 to 18 show the calculated use of N, P2O5 and K2O on each crop. A summary table (Table 19) for the selected industrial crops shows that oil-palm is by far the largest consumer of fertilizer and that this consumption has been increasing. Fertilizer use on rubber has been declining. This is due mostly to the expansion of the cultivated areas of oil-palm and a reduction in the areas planted to rubber. The total N, P2O5 and K2O consumption in 2001

Harvested area (‘000 ha) Average yield (kg/ha)a

State 1997 2001 2002 1997 2001 2002

Johor 24.8 14.8 12.9 1 206 881 881

Kedah and Perlis 42.3 24.6 22.2 1 083 971 971

Kelantan 15.4 9.7 8.6 876 872 872

Melaka 10.0 5.6 3.9 1 114 693 693

Negeri Sembilan 34.6 17.7 14.1 1 142 1 167 1 167

Pahang 28.5 12.8 12.3 993 1 035 1 035

Perak 26.0 8.7 7.0 1 182 1 221 1 221

Pulau Pinang 0.3 - - 739 - -

Selangor 11.6 6.6 5.0 960 723 723

Terengganu 1.9 0.1 0.1 810 971 971

West Malaysia 195.4 100.6 86.1 1 034 960 982

Sabah and Sarawak

5.3 1.9 1.0 771 448 448

Total Malaysia 200.7 102.5 87.1 1 076 963 976

TABLE 7Rubber: harvested area and average yield

a. For estates only.Source: Various Rubber Statistics Handbooks, Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2002 and 2003.

Chapter 4 – Fertilizer consumption by crop 23

TABLE 8Oil-palm: harvested area and average FFB yield

Harvested area (‘000 ha) aAverage FFB yield (t/ha)

State 1997 2001 2002 1997 2001 2002

Johor 587.0 636.8 664.1 19.72 19.17 17.88

Kedah 41.6 63.8 66.1 18.25 18.53 15.1

Kelantan 72.8 77.2 75.8 13.58 15.22 14.87

Melaka 35.6 41.9 45.3 22.62 24.89 20.54

Negeri Sembilan 105.3 134.4 130.5 20.59 20.89 17.38

Pahang 540.1 532.5 584.5 18.28 19.09 16.87

Perak 276.0 309.1 313.1 22.15 21.55 20.79

Pulau Pinang 14.9 14.8 13.7 19.08 19.85 15.93

Selangor 139.7 130.4 137.8 19.85 19.79 18.65

Terengganu 143.6 155.9 156.2 14.53 13.86 13.27

West Malaysia 1 956.6 2 096.8 2 187.1 19.07 19.17 17.45

Sabah 758.6 1 027.3 1 069.0 20.09 21.04 20.57

Sarawak 175.1 374.8 414.3 15.05 12.37 12.65

Total Malaysia 2 890.3 3 498.9 3 670.4 19.10 19.14 17.97

a. For estates only.FFB = Fresh Fruit BunchSource: Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 1998-2003.

Harvested area (‘000 ha) Average yield (kg/ha) c

Region 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

West Malaysia a 120.3 109.6 131.6 198.73 149.66 240.2

Sabah b 49.3 23.4 21.8 - 15.43 -

Sarawak a 25.6 25.6 25.5 392.45 340.14 198.9

Total Malaysia 195.2 158.6 178.6 173.95 160.58 149.23a Estates yield;b Smallholdings yield;c Copra (dried).Source: Agricultural Statistics of Sarawak, 2001; Various Yearbooks of Statistics, Malaysia and Sabah; Department of Agriculture Malaysia, 2003.

TABLE 9Coconut: harvested area and average yield

for this group of crops was 334 000 tonnes, 348 000 tonnes and 480 000 tonnes, respectively. Paddy was the second largest fertilizer consumer among this group of crops, but with only 6 percent of the consumption of oil-palm.


TABLE 10Paddy: harvested area and average yield

Harvested area (‘000 ha) Average yield (kg/ha)

State 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

Johor 1.4 2.6 2.3 2 970 3 013 3 347

Kedah 211.9 208.0 209.9 3 636 3 647 3 765

Kelantan 80.7 75.0 67.2 3 207 3 358 2 598

Melaka 1.1 2.0 2.2 2 112 3 113 2 810

Negeri Sembilan 0.6 1.8 2.3 3 050 3 180 4 370

Pahang 3.6 6.8 7.2 2 234 3 047 3 317

Perak 82.1 82.4 82.9 3 374 3 036 3 425

Perlis 46.9 51.4 51.3 3 646 3 631 3 965

Pulau Pinang 28.4 28.6 25.3 3 769 3 641 4 308

Selangor 36.9 37.9 38.0 4 615 4 667 4 760

Terengganu 20.9 22.4 20.4 3 145 3 591 3 079

West Malaysia 514.5 518.9 509.0 3 569 3 564 3 613

Sabah 49.8 48.9 42.7 2 898 3 171 3 213

Sarawak 126.5 130.9 127.1 1 145 1 043 1 640

Total Malaysia 690.8 698.7 678.8 3 068 3 064 2 822Source: Department of Agriculture, Malaysia, 1998-2002.

TABLE 11Cocoa: harvested area and average yield


Region 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

West Malaysia 39.9 15.1 10.3 700.0 1 488.3 1 436.1

Sabah 72.7 51.8 32.0 1,018.9 859.8 950.7

Sarawak 28.4 8.8 8.8 143.4 360.8 276.0

Total Malaysia 140.9 75.8 51.1 752.5 927.4 613.4Source: Malaysian Cocoa Board, 2003.

a Flue Cured Virginia Tobacco;b Burley Tobacco.Source: Ministry of Primary Industries, 2003.

TABLE 12Tobacco: harvested area and average yield


Region 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

West Malaysia a 19.8 15.8 14.4 5 036 4 113 7 056

Sabah b 0.2 0.7 1.2 1 084 1 143 1 436

Total Malaysia 20.0 16.5 15.6 4 990 3 994 6 627


TABLE 13Rubber: estimated a fertilizer useTonnes N (tonnes) P2O5 (tonnes) K2O (tonnes)

1997 2001 2002 1997 2001 2002 1997 2001 2002

Johor 2 186 952 829 3 263 1 421 1 238 5 598 2 438 2 123

Kedah and Perlis 3 354 1 751 1 578 5 007 2 614 2 356 8 591 4 484 4 042

Kelantan 985 619 546 1 471 925 815 2 523 1 586 1 399

Melaka 818 284 200 1 221 424 299 2 095 728 513

Negeri Sembilan 2 891 1 516 1 205 4 317 2 263 1 799 7 406 3 882 3 087

Pahang 2 075 970 931 3 098 1 448 1 390 5 316 2 484 2 384

Perak 2 249 778 622 3 358 1 161 928 5 761 1 992 1 592

Pulau Pinang 18 - - 17 - - 45 - -

Selangor 818 350 266 797 341 259 2 096 896 682

Terengganu 111 5 4 109 5 4 285 13 10

West Malaysia 15 506 7 071 6 181 15 100 6 886 6 020 39 717 18 113 15 833

Sabah + Sarawak 298 62 32 290 61 31 762 160 82

Total Malaysia 15 803 7 228 6 213 15 390 7 039 6 051 40 479 18 514 15 915a For estates only.

TABLE 14Oil-palm: estimated a fertilizer use

Tonnes N (tonnes) P2O5 (tonnes) K2O (tonnes)

1997 2001 2002 1997 2001 2002 1997 2001 2002

Johor 49 389 52 084 50 660 55 562 58 594 56 992 77 170 81 381 79 156

Kedah 3 242 5 043 4 260 3 647 5 674 4 793 5 065 7 880 6 656

Kelantan 4 220 5 015 4 808 4 747 5 641 5 409 6 593 7 835 7 513

Melaka 3 435 4 449 3 968 3 864 5 005 4 464 5 367 6 952 6 200

Negeri Sembilan

9 249 11 982 9 678 10 405 13 479 10 887 14 451 18 721 15 121

Pahang 42 125 43 372 42 070 47 391 48 794 47 329 65 820 67 770 65 735

Perak 26 079 28 417 27 771 29 339 31 969 31 243 40 748 44 401 43 393

Pulau Pinang

1 211 1 255 933 1 362 1 412 1 049 1 892 1 961 1 458

Selangor 11 830 11 013 10 963 13 309 12 390 12 333 18 485 17 208 17 129

Terengganu 8 905 9 222 8 844 10 019 10. 374 9 949 13 915 14 409 13 818

West Malaysia

159 685 171 852 163 955 179 645 193 332 184 448 249 506 268 518 256 179

Sabah 65 024 92 224 93 819 73 152 103 752 105 546 101 600 144 100 146 592

Sarawak 11 245 19 783 22 359 12 651 22 256 25 154 17 571 30 911 34 936

Total Malaysia

235 954 283 859 280 133 265 448 319 340 315 148 368 677 443 529 437 707

a For estates only.


TABLE 15Coconut: estimated fertilizer use

N (tonnes) P2O5 (tonnes) K2O (tonnes)

Region 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

West Malaysia 553 379 731 719 493 951 553 379 731

Sabah - 8 - - 11 - - 8 -

Sarawak 232 201 117 302 262 153 232 201 117

Total MalaysiaL 785 588 848 1 021 766 1 004 785 588 848

TABLE 16Paddy: estimated fertilizer useTonnes N (tonnes) P2O5 (tonnes) K2O (tonnes)

1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

Johor 75 141 139 29 55 45 21 39 32

Kedah 13 871 13 656 14 228 5 394 5 311 5 396 3 853 3 793 3 854

Perlis 4 658 4 535 3 140 1 811 1 764 1 557 1 294 1 260 1 112

Kelantan 42 112 109 16 44 50 12 31 35

Melaka 35 101 182 14 39 31 10 28 22

Negeri Sembilan 147 373 427 57 145 127 41 104 90

Pahang 4 987 4 504 5 107 1 940 1 752 1 651 1 385 1 251 1 179

Perak 3 078 3 360 3 277 1 197 1 307 1 275 855 933 910

Pulau Pinang 1 926 1 874 1 748 749 729 680 535 521 486

Selangor 3 065 3 183 3 468 1 192 1 238 1 349 851 884 963

Terengganu 1 184 1 447 963 461 563 375 329 402 268

West Malaysia 33 068 33 286 32 228 12 860 12 947 12 536 9 186 9 246 8 951

Sabah 2 599 2 791 2 964 1 011 1 085 1 153 722 775 823

Sarawak 2 608 2 457 2 517 1 014 956 979 724 683 699

Total Malaysia 38 275 38 534 37 709 14 885 14 988 14 668 10 632 10 704 10 473

TABLE 17Cocoa: estimated fertilizer use


Region 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

West Malaysia 1 364 1 101 724 636 514 338 1 636 1 321 868

Sabah 3 619 2 177 1 487 1 688 1 015 693 4 341 2 612 1 784

Sarawak 199 155 119 93 72 56 238 186 143

Total Malaysia 5 182 3 433 2 330 2 417 1 601 1 087 6 215 4 119 2 795


FRUIT CROPSIn 2001, all fruit crops occupied 305 thousand ha (4.8 percent) of the total cultivated area. The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of the twelve most important fruit crops are given in Annex 3 (Tables A3.1 to A3.12).

A summary is given in Table 20.Banana was the largest consumer of fertilizer and starfruit the smallest.

VEGETABLE CROPSIn 2001, the vegetable crops in total occupied 12 682 ha (0.002 percent) of the total cultivated area in Malaysia.

This report focuses on six vegetable crops, Chinese spinach, lady’s fingers, chili, long bean, cucumber and tomato. The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of the six most important vegetable crops are given in Annex 4 (Tables A4.1 to A4.6).

A summary is given in Table 21. It shows that chili was the largest consumer of fertilizer and Chinese spinach the smallest.

TABLE 18Tobacco: estimated fertilizer use

TABLE 19Summary of fertilizer use: Industrial crops


Region 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

West Malaysia 2 658 1 729 2 708 6 810 4 430 6 938 4 319 2 809 4 400

Sabah 7 20 46 17 52 117 11 33 74

Sarawak - - - - - - - - -

Total Malaysia 2 665 1 749 2 754 6 827 4 482 7 055 4 330 2 842 4 474

N (‘000 tonnes) P2O5 (‘000 tonnes) K2O (‘000 tonnes)

Crop 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002 1997 2000 2002

Rubber 15.8 9.3 6.2 15.4 9.0 6.1 40.5 23.8 15.9

Oil-palm 236.0 269.6 280.1 265.4 303.3 315.2 368.7 421.3 437.7

Paddy 38.3 38.5 37.7 14.9 15.0 14.7 10.6 10.7 10.5

Coconut 0.8 0.6 0.9 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.9

Cocoa 5.2 3.4 2.3 2.4 1.6 1.1 6.2 4.1 2.8

Tobacco 2.7 1.7 2.8 6.8 4.5 7.1 4.3 2.8 4.5


TABLE 20Fruit crops: summary of total fertilizer use (excluding Sabah)

Large quantities of organic fertilizers (chicken manure and prawn dust) are used in vegetable production (Tee, 1979) but quantitative data are not available.

CASH CROPSThe cash crops in Malaysia include maize, groundnut, tapioca, taro and sweet potato. In 2001, cash crops in total occupied 16 045 ha (0.25 percent) of the total cultivated area.

TABLE 21Vegetable crops: summary of total fertilizer use (excluding Sabah and Sarawak)

CROP N (tonnes) P2O5 (tonnes) K2O (tonnes)

2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002

Starfruit 31 35 24 31 35 24 44 49 34

Papaya 57 64 81 57 64 81 80 91 114

Cempedak 428 504 480 419 494 470 460 541 515

Durian 1 472 1 567 1 928 1 472 1 567 1 928 2 265 2 410 2 966

Sweet orange 108 98 125 108 98 125 154 141 179

Mango 84 82 108 84 82 108 129 126 166

Mangosteen 146 252 176 146 252 176 207 357 249

Pineapple 2 164 2 272 2 340 2 164 2 272 2 340 2 564 2 692 2 773

Jackfruit 54 68 86 54 68 86 77 96 122

Banana 5 729 5 369 7 670 5 729 5 369 7 670 7 031 6 589 9 413

Rambutan 636 717 911 636 717 911 901 1 016 1 291

Watermelon 373 370 424 373 370 424 262 260 298

a = Values do not include those for Sabah


2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002

Chinese spinach 81 93 107 81 93 107 115 132 152

Lady’s fingers 150 124 124 150 124 124 212 175 176

Chili 361 351 302 361 351 302 511 497 428

Long bean 188 180 181 188 180 181 266 255 256

Cucumber 147 134 131 147 134 131 208 190 186

Tomato 282 192 275 282 192 275 400 271 389

a = Values do not include those for Sabah and Sarawak.


The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of these crops are given in Annex 5 (Tables A5.1 to A5.4). Table 22 shows that maize is the largest consumer of fertilizer and groundnut the smallest in this group.

SPICESThe major spices of Malaysia include hot chili, ginger, turmeric, pepper, greater galangal, musklime, lime, nutmeg and lemon grass. Other spices include, Asam Gelugur, tamarind, clove and mint. In 2001, spices occupied 18 059 ha (0.28 percent) of the total cultivated area. This report focuses on hot chili, ginger, pepper, lime and lemon grass.

The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of these crops are given in Annex 5 (Tables A5.5 – A5.8). Table 23 shows that pepper is the largest consumer of fertilizers in this group. Pepper is extensively grown and commands a good market price. Estimates of fertilizer use on lime and lemon grass are not yet available.

TABLE 22Cash crops: summary of total fertilizer use (excluding Sabah and Sarawak)


2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002

Maize 529 586 687 232 257 301 529 586 687

Groundnut 10 7 11 20 15 22 17 12 18

Cassava 41 24 24 20 12 12 75 44 43

Sweet potato 99 109 125 99 109 125 141 155 177

TABLE 23Spices: summary of total fertilizer use


2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002

Hot chili 17 21 17 4 5 4 9 12 9

Ginger 17 39 31 17 39 31 24 55 43

Pepper 429 429 1 193 193 193 537 590 590 1 640

Total 463 489 1 240 214 237 572 623 657 1 692

31

Chapter 5

Profitability of fertilizer use

Smallholders are usually ready to use fertilizers if they are easily accessible and, most importantly, if they are affordable and their use is profitable. Access to fertilizers in Malaysia is not a problem as there are many dealers around the country. The market is open and very competitive but prices have been rising in line with international prices. The government helps small farmers with fertilizer subsidies in order to improve their income and hence alleviate rural poverty.

In this chapter, information is given on the prices of some crops, the prices of some fertilizers in the Malaysian market and profitability based on the use of compound fertilizer NPK 12-12-17 (cost benefit analysis) for selected crops.

FERTILIZER AND CROP PRICESTable 24 gives the prices of selected crops at farm gate level for the years 2000 and 2001 with 1997 for comparison. Among the industrial crops, in 2001, tobacco fetched the highest market price followed by cocoa, rubber and oil-palm. For fruit crops, starfruit and watermelon were the most and least expensive respectively. Among the selected vegetables, hot chili and cucumber were the most and least expensive respectively. Table 25 shows the prices of some fertilizers in various Malaysian states in December 2003. The prices do not differ much across states.


TABLE 24Farm gate selling prices of crop produce

Crop group Selected crops Average annual price (RM/tonne)

1997 2000 2001

Industrial crops Rubber a 2 178 2 425 2 057

Coconut (copra) 850 750 540

Oil-palm a (Palm oil) 2 075 1 178 1 069

Cocoa a 4 213 2 568 3 257

Fruit Crops Starfruit (B17) 1 900 2 140 1 840

Papaya (Exotica) 580 590 620

Cempedak 1 040 860 770

Durian (Kampung) 1 700 1 640 1 020

Sweet orange 1 340 1 310 1 310

Mango 2 200 3 000 1 660

Mongosteen 1 280 1 680 1 720

Pineapple (Sarawak) 1 230 1 160 1 080

Banana (Barangan) 660 670 670

Rambutan (Gading) 1 090 1 070 1 040

Watermelon (Yellow super) 750 520 550

Vegetables Chinese spinach 790 790 810

Lady’s fingers 1 450 1 790 1 580

Chili 2 830 3 520 2 790

Long bean 1 230 1 180 1 120

Cucumber 570 590 550

Tomato (lowland) 1 090 850 1 200

Spices Ginger 1,800 2 370 1 850

Pepper White 14 620 13 410 7 310

Black 9 430 11 690 4 960

Lime 1 260 1 520 1 100

Cash Crops Cassava 340 340 420a Market prices.Source: Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority; Ministry of Primary Industries.

Chapter 5 – Profitability of fertilizer use 33

Composition Negeri Sembilan

Pahang Perlis Terengganu Sabah Sarawak

NPK 10-16-9 +2.5MgO 43

NPK 12-12-17 +2MgO+TE 66 49–60 40–60 62 62 55

NPK 12-6-22 +3MgO 48

NPK 13-13-20+TE 58–62 60 61

NPK 13-13-21 65

NPK 13-26-26 62

NPK 15-15-15 59 64

NPK 15-15-15+TE 60 58 60 62 55

NPK 15-15-6 +4MgO 48

NPK 15-5-20 +2MgO+TE 90

34 percent P2O5 18 25 32

Urea 46 percent N 48 55 40 39 36

Potassium chloride 38 35 31 41

Crop N P2O5 K2O

Starfruit (B17) 4.4 4.4 3.1

Papaya (Exotica) 14.6 14.6 10.3

Cempedak 8.9 8.9 6.3

Durian (Kampung) 7.0 7.0 5.0

Sweet orange 5.6 5.6 3.9

Mango 5.4 5.4 3.8

Mongosteen 6.4 6.4 4.5

Pineapple (Sarawak) 11.0 11.0 7.8

Banana (Barangan) 12.6 12.6 8.9

Rambutan (Gading) 9.7 9.7 6.9

Watermelon (Yellow super) 17.0 17.0 12.0

Chinese spinach 10.0 10.0 7.0

Lady’s fingers 5.0 5.0 3.5

Chili 3.1 3.0 2.2

Long bean 6.9 6.9 4.9

Cucumber 13.2 13.2 9.3

Tomato (lowland) 5.0 5.0 3.5

TABLE 25Fertilizer prices (RM) in December 2003 per 50 kg bag of selected fertilizer products in various states

TE = trace elementsSource: Department of Agriculture, Peninsular Malaysia (Unpublished data).

TABLE 26Crop fertilizer price ratios* in 2003 for selected fruit and vegetable crops

* Based on NPK 12-12-17 prices.

35

Chapter 6

The future of fertilizer use

It is expected that the use of mineral fertilizers will continue to rise if the cultivated areas and the intensity of production continue to increase. However, it will be possible to minimize the rate of increase in fertilizer use if emerging technologies such as variable rate application (VRA) and site-specific management (SSM) are extensively practiced. Plant breeders should explore the possibilities of producing crops, which are higher yielding but less demanding as regards nutrient requirements. Agro-forestry, intercropping, integrated farming systems (animals and crops) and the use of crop organic wastes would reduce the dependence on mineral fertilizers.

SITE-SPECIFIC MANAGEMENTVariable rate application and site-specific management are proving to be very effective and promising management practices for improving fertilizer use efficiency (FUE). Fertilizers are becoming increasingly expensive and their overuse is causing environmental concerns, due to pollution of soil and water resources. As a result, conventional practices of fertilizer application (broadcast, deep banding, top dressing, side dressing etc), based on blanket recommendations of average fertilizer rates on a hectare basis, should give way to VRA and SSM of fertilizers. This would minimize the waste of fertilizers and reduce the quantities used per hectare.

INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS Integrated farming systems (IFS), are being promoted vigorously in Malaysia in order to support agriculture and to reduce dependence on mineral fertilizers for crop production. The emphasis is on agro-forestry and mixed farming and on organic farming. It is expected that IFS will increase the smallholder’s average income from RM200 to above


RM1 000 per month. The DOA is promoting rice cultivation integrated with vegetables, sweet corn, fruits, fish and duck rearing; intercropping of coconut with fruits and vegetables; intercropping of rubber with banana, groundnut, maize, pineapple and vegetables; maize production integrated with cattle feed lots (Wan Abu Bakar, 2003). The processing of compost is being encouraged. Integration of sheep in rubber growing smallholdings also contributes additional income, providing organic manure and reducing weeding costs.

The oil-palm plantation sector and land development schemes, which account for a large proportion of the cultivated area in Malaysia, also practice integrated farming. The immediate benefit in this case is a reduction in labour costs for weeding through grazing by cattle, deer and other ruminants. At the end of 2000, 167 estates and 300 blocks of FELDA settlers, involving 115 390 beef cattle, adopted the integration of cattle with mature oil-palm (Rosli, 2001).

The impact of these measures on soil fertility is generally known but the particular benefits in the farming scenarios in Malaysia are not well documented. However, they are attracting a lot of research interest.

37

References

Andriesse, J.P. 1968. A study of the environment and characteristics of Podzols occurring in the tropical lowland of Sarawak (East Malaysia). In Andriesse, J.P. (ed). Proceedings of the 3rd Malaysian Soil Science Conference. May 1968. Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. pp. 17–33.

Aziz, B. 1995. Improvement of problem soils in Malaysia for sustainable agriculture. Proceedings of the International Conference on Soil Resources and Sustainable Agriculture 1995, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 271–286.

Department of Agriculture. 1998 – 2002. Crop Statistics, Malaysia. Department of Agriculture, Malaysia.

Department of Agriculture. 2003. Crop Statistics of Malaysia 2001. Department of Agriculture (DOA), Peninsular Malaysia. 424pp.

Department of Agriculture, Sarawak. 2002. Agricultural Statistics of Sarawak. DOA, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Department of Statistics. 2002. Rubber Statistics Handbook, Malaysia 2001. DOS, Malaysia.

Department of Statistics. 2003. Monthly Rubber Statistics, Malaysia. December 2002. DOS, Malaysia.

Economic Planning Unit. 2001. Agricultural Development. In: Eighth Malaysia Plan 2001–2005. EPU, Prime Minister’s Department. pp. 205–232.

FADINAP. 1984. Report. Marketing, distribution and use of fertilizer in Malaysia. 41pp.

FAO. 1999. Fertilizer Strategies Revised Version. FAO and IFA, Rome. 98pp.

Faridah Ahmad. 2001. Sustainable agriculture system in Malaysia. Paper presented at Regional Workshop on Integrated Plant Nutrition System (IPNS), Development in Rural Poverty Alleviation, 18–20 Sept. 2001, UN Conference Complex, Bangkok, Thailand. 10pp.

Goh, K.J. and Hardter, R. 2003. General Oil Palm Nutrition. In: Fairhurst, T.H. and Hardter, R. (eds.) Oil Palm: Management for Large and Sustainable Yields. PPI, Switzerland, pp. 191–230.


Hock, Q.S. 1999. Sustainable food production, income generation and consumer protection in Malaysia. Agro-minerals News in Brief, Special Issue Nov. pp. 39–46.

IBSRAM. 1985. Report of the inaugural workshop and proposal for implementation of the acid tropical soil management network. IBSRAM, Bangkok, Thailand.

Lim, J.S. and Chan Y.K. 1993. Steep Land in Peninsular Malaysia: Present Utilization and Future. DOA.

Lim, K.C. and Zaharah, A.R. 2000. Decomposition and N and K Release by Oil palm Empty Fruit Bunches Applied Under Mature Oil palm. J. Oil palm Res. 12(2): 55–60.

MADI. 2004. Malaysian Agricultural Directory and Index 2003–2004.MCB. 2003. Malaysian Cocoa Monitor, Vol. 11 (3). MCB, Malaysia.MOA. 1999. Third National Agricultural Policy (1998–2010). 265pp.MOA. 2003. Paddy Statistics of Malaysia 2001. Department of Agriculture,

Peninsular Malaysia. 104pp.MPI. 2003. Statistics on Commodities 2003. 17th edition. MPI, Malaysia.MPOB. 1998 –2003. Malaysian Oil palm Statistics. 18th – 23rd editions. MPOB

of MPI, Malaysia.Nieuwolt, S. 1982. Climate and Agricultural Planning in Peninsular Malaysia.

Special Report No. ASAS-01-83. MARDI. 139pp.Nieuwolt, S. Ghazalli, M.Z. and Gopinathan, B. 1982. Agro-Ecological

Regions in Peninsular Malaysia, MARDI, 20pp.Panabokke, C.R. 1979. Agro-ecological zones of South and South-East Asia.

FAO Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand.Ramli M.N. and Wong L.J. 1989. Rainfed agriculture in Malaysia. In: Rainfed

Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific Region. RAPA, FAO Publication. pp. 139–144.

Rosli, A. 2001 Systematic Integration of Beef Cattle in Oil palm Plantation. Agro-Search 8(2): 15–24.

Department of Development. 1995. Integrated Land-Use Planning for Sarawak. Volume I: Agro-ecological Zoning. Background Paper 11. Sarawak Agricultural Perspective Plan.

Sarawak Agricultural Development Plan. State Planning Unit, Department of Development, Sarawak.

References 39

Shamsuddin, J., Jamilah, I., Sharifuddin, H.A.H. and Bell, L.C. 1992. Limestone, Gypsum, Palm Oil Mill Effluent and Rock Phosphate Effects on Soil Solution Properties of Some Malaysian Ultisols and Oxisols. Pertanika 15 (3), pp. 225–235.

Tee Thean-Soo. 1979. Vegetable Production in Malaysia. Acta Horticulturae 101, pp. 35–45.

Thomas, P. 1966. Stranded beach soils – a problem in Sabah. Proceedings of the second Malaysian Soil Science Society Conference, Kuala Lumpur.

Wai O.K. 2001. National Study: Malaysia. http://www.Unescap.org/rural/doc/OA/Malaysia.pdf. Accessed 15th April 2004.

Wan Abu Bakar, N.M. 2003. Country paper: Malaysia. In: Impact of Land Utilization Systems on Agricultural Productivity. Report of the APO Seminar on Impact of Land Utilization Systems on Agricultural Productivity, Islamic Republic of Iran, 4–9 November 2000. APO Japan. pp. 226–240.

Wong, I.F.T. 1982. Rainfed farming systems and practices in relation to agro-ecological zones in Malaysia. DOA, Malaysia, 47 pp.

41

Annex 1

Fertilizer use recommendation

TABLE A1.1Recommended fertilizer rates for crops on mineral soils

PPD = Plant population density* DOA represents Peninsular Malaysia’s Department of Agriculture unless otherwise stated.

Crop Group CROP Rates (kg/ha) PPD per ha

Recommending Agency*N P2O5 K2O

Industrial Rubber 109.8 163.93 281.25 450 MRB

Coconut 71.7 93.21 107.55 239 DOA

Oil-palm 128 144 200 160 MPOB

Cocoa 117.3 54.7 140.7 1 241 DOA

Coffee 134.4 62.72 161.28 1 280 DOA

Paddy 90 35 25 500 (m-2) DOA

Sugar cane 100 118 140 - FELDA

Tea 95 75 120 - DOA

Tobacco 80 205 130 17 932 DOA

Fruits Starfruit 116.76 116.76 165.41 278 DOA

Papaya 84 84 119 2 000 DOA

Cempedak 118.08 115.62 126.69 123 DOA

Durian 97.5 97.5 150 100 DOA

Sweet orange 100.1 100.1 142.8 400 DOA

Mango 82.16 82.16 126.4 158 DOA

Mongosteen 117.48 117.48 166.43 178 DOA

Pineapple 297 297 352 36 900 DOA

Jackfruit 51.48 51.48 72.93 130 DOA

Banana 554.4 554.4 680.4 1 680 DOA

Rambutan 73.44 73.44 104.04 170 DOA

Watermelon 84 84 59 2 000 DOA

Vegetables Chinese spinach 60 60 85 - MARDI

Lady’s fingers 120 120 170 5 487 DOA

Chili 180 180 255 8 570 DOA

Long bean 84 84 119 21 333 DOA

Cucumber 60 60 85 21 333 DOA

Tomato 180 180 255 21 333 DOA


Crop Group CROP Rates (kg/ha) PPD per ha

Recommending Agency*N P2O5 K2O

Spices Hot chili 135 35 75 - DOA

Ginger 180 180 255 53 797 MARDI

Pepper 298.97 134.52 411.07 1 680 DOA, Sarawak

Cash Maize 130 57 130 53 333 DOA

Groundnut 27 55 45 - MARDI

Cassava 30 15 55 10 000 MARDI

Sweet potato 120 120 170 - DOAPPD = Plant population density* DOA represents Peninsular Malaysia’s Department of Agriculture unless otherwise stated.

43

Annex 2

Crop names

TABLE A2.1English, botanical and local names of crops

English name Botanical name Local name

Banana Musa (L.) spp. Pisang

Chili Capsicum annum var. acuminatum L. Cili

Chinese spinach Amaranthus spp. Bayam

Cocoa Theobroma cacao L. Koko

Coconut Cocos nucifera L. Kelapa

Coffee Coffea spp. Kopi

Cucumber Cucumis sativus L. Timun

Ginger Zingiber officinale Roscoe Halia

Groundnuts Arachis hypogaea L. Kacang Tanah

Hot chili Capsicum frutescens L. Cili Padi

Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam Nangka

Lady’s finger Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench Bendi

Lemon grass Cymbogonon citratus (D.C.) Stapf. Serai

Lime Citrus aurantifolia Swingle Limau Nipis

Long bean Vigna sinensis L. Kacang Panjang

Maize Zea mays L. Jagung

Mango Mangifera indica L. Mangga

Mangosteen Garcinia mangostana L. Manggis

Oil-palm Elaeis guineensis Jacq Kelapa Sawit

Paddy Oryza sativa L. Padi

Papaya Carica papaya L. Betik

Pepper Piper nigrum L. Lada Hitam

Pineapple Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. Nanas

Rubber Hevea brasiliensis Muell Getah

Sago Metroxylon sagu Rottb. Rumbia

Starfruit Averrhoea carambola L. Belimbing Manis

Sugarcane Saccharum officinarum L. Tebu

Sweet orange Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck Limau Manis

Sweet potato Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam Ubi Keledek

Tapioca / Cassava Manihot utilissima, Pohl. Ubi Kayu

Tea Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze Teh


English name Botanical name Local name

Tobacco Nicotiana tabacum L. Tembakau

Tomato Lycopersicum esculentum Mill Tomato

Watermelon Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mansf Tembikai

(Cempedak) Artocarpus champeden Spreng Cempedak

(Durian) Durio zibethinus Murr Durian

(Rambutan) Nephelium lappaceum L. Rambutan

45

Area (ha) Yield (t/ha) Fertilizer use (tonnesc)

State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 425 169 17 3.7 3.7 5.2Kedah 64 37 11 - 1.8 2.6Kelantan 53 31 2 0.2 0.2 0.3Melaka 57 44 22 2.1 2.1 2.9Negeri Sembilan 68 125 5 2.0 2.0 2.8Pahang 140 28 17 2.0 2.0 2.8Perak 55 37 18 1.4 1.4 2.0Perlis 7 11 4 0.1 0.1 0.2Pulau Pinang 64 31 15 0.9 0.9 1.3Selangor 107 66 13 0.9 0.9 1.2Terengganu 17 10 29 - - -West Malaysia 1 056 588 14 15.1 15.1 21.4Sabah 72 8 1.7 1.7 2.4Sarawak 499 381 7 7.3 7.3 10.4Total Malaysia 1 555 1 041 29 3.7 3.7 5.2

a Total planted area. b Harvested area. c 2002.Source: Department of Agriculture, 1998-2002.

Annex 3

Fruit crops

TABLE A3.1Starfruit: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 192 638 10 6.1 6.1 8.6Kedah 26 582 7 0.4 0.4 0.6Kelantan 33 89 5 0.3 0.3 0.4Melaka 8 189 13 1.8 1.8 2.6Negeri Sembilan 53 80 10 1.1 1.1 1.6Pahang 48 281 6 0.5 0.5 0.7Perak 776 660 11 55.5 55.5 78.6Perlis 9 13 5 - - -Pulau Pinang 42 137 9 1.0 1.0 1.3Selangor 60 462 8 1.3 1.3 1.8Terengganu 39 130 10 0.7 0.7 0.9West Malaysia 1 287 3 260 11 68.6 68.6 97.2Sabah 837 18 4.9 4.9 7.0Sarawak 470 2 363 6 7.2 7.2 10.1Total Malaysia 3 043 6 461 35 80.7 80.7 114.3

TABLE A3.2Papaya: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state




State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 543 855 9 52.9 51.8 56.8Kedah 1 547 1 061 6 76.2 74.6 81.7Kelantan 534 246 4 8.0 7.8 8.5Melaka 269 269 5 19.5 19.1 20.9Negeri Sembilan 334 199 4 11.0 10.8 11.8Pahang 727 570 3 23.4 23.0 25.2Perak 1 196 695 3 23.1 22.6 24.8Perlis 30 22 4 1.0 1.0 1.1Pulau Pinang 343 224 6 14.1 13.8 15.1Selangor 1 006 662 7 41.8 40.9 44.9Terengganu 828 378 8 6.2 6.1 6.6West Malaysia 8 358 5 182 6 277.2 271.4 297.4Sabah 1 239 3 52.8 51.7 56.7Sarawak 3 422 3 353 4 149.9 146.8 160.9Total Malaysia 11 779 9 774 13 480.0 470.0 515.0

TABLE A3.3Cempedak: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A3.4Durian: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 40 115 25 788 6 880 880 1 353Kedah 4 962 3 072 4 73 73 112Kelantan 20 154 11 398 3 173 173 267Melaka 4 105 4 121 7 106 106 163Negeri Sembilan 3 660 1 974 4 43 43 66Pahang 12 677 7 132 2 114 114 176Perak 10 980 5 938 4 97 97 149Perlis 59 71 3 1 1 2Pulau Pinang 3 974 3 167 3 51 51 79Selangor 4 759 2 659 5 42 42 65Terengganu 6 039 2 983 2 50 50 77West Malaysia 111 485 68 302 4 1 631 1 631 2 509Sabah 3 615 3 - - -Sarawak 10 752 10 757 4 235 235 362Total Malaysia 122 237 82 675 4 1 928 1 928 2 966


Annex 3 – Fruit crops 47

TABLE A3.5Sweet orange: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 268 395 7 18.8 18.8 26.8Kedah 68 157 8 9.2 9.2 13.2Kelantan 84 172 6 3.5 3.5 5Melaka 41 18 10 1.1 1.1 1.6Negeri Sembilan 69 40 2 0.9 0.9 1.2Pahang 304 127 5 2.4 2.4 3.4Perak 20 31 2 0.6 0.6 0.9Perlis 1 2 1 0 0 0Pulau Pinang 3 7 0.2 0.2 0.3Selangor 7 2 9 - - -Terengganu 301 715 12 10.3 10.3 14.7West Malaysia 1 067 1 339 37 47 47 67.1Sabah 483 3 9 9 12.9Sarawak 1 464 2 310 4 69.3 69.3 98.9Total Malaysia 2 531 4 132 5 125.4 125.4 178.9



State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 713 253 3 4.4 4.4 6.7Kedah 1 349 884 3 13.1 13.1 20.1Kelantan 478 241 2 4.0 4.0 6.1Melaka 481 752 3 9.7 9.7 14.9Negeri Sembilan 363 297 3 6.5 6.5 10.0Pahang 442 201 3 4.0 4.0 6.2Perak 1 120 935 5 25.8 25.8 39.7Perlis 1 118 859 3 11.8 11.8 18.1Pulau Pinang 363 136 4 1.5 1.5 2.4Selangor 692 309 4 3.3 3.3 5.0Terengganu 561 272 3 0.4 0.4 0.6West Malaysia 7 680 5 140 3 84.4 84.4 129.9Sabah 1 049 2 - - -Sarawak 1 294 1 243 2 11.5 11.5 17.6Total Malaysia 8 974 7 432 3 107.7 107.7 165.7

TABLE A3.6Mango: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state




State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 476 820 10 34 34 48Kedah 641 476 3 23 23 32Kelantan 1 515 765 5 26 26 36Melaka 353 352 3 20 20 28Negeri Sembilan 648 333 2 18 18 25Pahang 654 365 3 4 4 6Perak 1 029 479 8 18 18 26Perlis 4 2 2 - - -Pulau Pinang 342 191 6 8 8 11Selangor 377 197 8 6 6 8Terengganu 691 325 7 5 5 7West Malaysia 7 730 4 307 6 161 161 228Sabah 285 3 6 6 9Sarawak 491 447 2 9 9 12Total Malaysia 8 221 5 039 5 176 176 249


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 10 069 7 448 37 1 851 1 851 2 193Kedah 132 121 19 12 12 14Kelantan 249 284 22 30 30 35Melaka 7 8 22 2 2 2Negeri Sembilan 76 66 8 9 9 10Pahang 73 50 8 2 2 2Perak 124 94 8 5 5 5Pulau Pinang 321 324 14 36 36 43Selangor 151 181 21 36 36 43Terengganu 117 104 8 - - 1West Malaysia 11 319 8 679 34 1 982 1 982 2 349Sabah 1 152 8 71 71 84Sarawak 2 778 2 708 16 287 287 341Total Malaysia 14 097 12 539 27 2 340 2 340 2 773

TABLE A3.7Mangosteen: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A3.8Pineapple: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


Annex 3 – Fruit crops 49


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 710 497 9 26 26 37Kedah 240 139 6 8 8 11Kelantan 399 200 5 4 4 5Melaka 91 91 6 3 3 5Negeri Sembilan 182 133 4 4 4 6Pahang 240 111 5 4 4 6Perak 121 121 7 3 3 4Perlis 50 29 - - - -Pulau Pinang 66 50 33 1 1 1Selangor 239 126 8 5 5 7Terengganu 183 106 9 4 4 6West Malaysia 2 519 1 603 8 63 63 89Sabah 477 5 13 13 18Sarawak 555 535 4 10 10 15Total Malaysia 3 075 2 615 6 86 86 122

TABLE A3.9Jackfruit: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLEA3.10Banana: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 7 948 7 381 13 3 268 3 268 4 011Kedah 1 894 1 196 10 360 360 441Kelantan 3 006 2 102 8 362 362 444Melaka 92 148 11 40 40 49Negeri Sembilan 871 566 4 72 72 89Pahang 1 819 1 400 6 242 242 297Perak 4 912 2 532 10 592 592 727Perlis 132 22 2 1 1 1Pulau Pinang 464 493 9 93 93 114Selangor 3 268 2 415 9 361 361 443Terengganu 297 479 5 84 84 103West Malaysia 24 702 18 733 10 5 475 5 475 6 720Sabah 5 762 9 1 348 1 348 1 655Sarawak 4 712 4 010 8 846 846 1 039Total Malaysia 29 414 28 504 8 7 670 7 670 9 413




State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 2 846 2 231 4 138 138 195Kedah 2 007 1 443 4 104 104 147Kelantan 3 516 2 202 3 97 97 138Melaka 917 910 5 56 56 80Negeri Sembilan 1 353 716 3 61 61 87Pahang 2 228 1 545 3 43 43 61Perak 2 049 1 304 4 39 39 55Perlis 36 51 3 1 1 2Pulau Pinang 739 636 3 19 19 27Selangor 921 742 6 54 54 77Terengganu 2 259 863 4 46 46 65West Malaysia 18 873 12 643 4 658 658 932Sabah 1 718 3 61 61 87Sarawak 5 072 5 039 3 192 192 272Total Malaysia 23 945 19 401 3 911 911 1 291


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 863 2 052 11 44.8 44.8 31.5Kedah 577 273 16 20.1 20.1 14.1Kelantan 882 703 18 67.1 67.1 47.1Melaka 336 904 26 92.1 92.1 64.7Negeri Sembilan 37 73 10 1.1 1.1 0.7Pahang 247 662 12 27.3 27.3 19.2Perak 238 384 15 61.4 61.4 43.2Perlis 57 13 12 0.5 0.5 0.3Pulau Pinang 19 15 5 0.4 0.4 0.3Selangor 44 19 15 0.4 0.4 0.3Terengganu 524 373 14 36.4 36.4 25.5West Malaysia 4 824 5 471 15 351.5 351.5 246.9Sabah 236 14 14.4 14.4 10.1Sarawak 1 171 1 098 14 58.5 58.5 41.1Total Malaysia 5 995 6 805 14 424.4 424.4 298.1

TABLE A3.11Rambutan: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A3.12Watermelon: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


51

Annex 4

Vegetable crops

TABLE A4.1Chinese spinach: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 862 1564 10 67 67 95Kedah 55 57 8 2 2 3Kelantan 53 95 11 6 6 8Melaka 101 108 11 5 5 7Negeri Sembilan 46 69 9 2 2 2Pahang 96 86 8 4 4 6Perak 30 72 12 5 5 7Perlis 10 10 9 - - -Pulau Pinang 105 137 11 3 3 4Selangor 65 111 12 5 5 7Terengganu 7 4 9 - - -West Malaysia 1 429 2 312 10 99 99 140Sabah 92 10 4 4 6Sarawak 108 10 4 4 6Total Malaysia 1 429 2 512 9 107 107 152




State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 682 638 12 33 33 47Kedah 173 171 10 10 10 14Kelantan 124 114 15 13 13 19Melaka 67 60 19 6 6 9Negeri Sembilan 73 72 14 6 6 8Pahang 62 76 15 16 16 23Perak 210 193 13 12 12 17Perlis 46 29 8 1 1 2Pulau Pinang 155 145 14 15 15 21Selangor 96 121 14 2 2 3Terengganu 38 32 7 1 1 2West Malaysia 1 726 1 650 13 116 116 164Sabah 37 - - -Sarawak 121 14 8 8 12Total Malaysia 1 726 1 796 12 124 124 176


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 680 753 12 100 100 142Kedah 298 222 10 16 16 23Kelantan 485 450 14 69 69 98Melaka 66 81 14 13 13 18Negeri Sembilan 45 37 7 2 2 3Pahang 296 309 8 17 17 24Perak 390 349 11 44 44 62Perlis 34 18 9 2 2 3Pulau Pinang 61 50 12 8 8 11Selangor 107 86 14 7 7 10Terengganu 340 246 4 11 11 16West Malaysia 2 803 2 601 11 288 288 409Sabah 50 - - -Sarawak 129 10 14 14 19Total Malaysia 2 803 2 763 10 302 302 428

TABLE A4.2Lady’s fingers: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A4.3Chili: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


Annex 4 – Vegetable crops 53


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 415 1 342 14 74 74 105Kedah 214 158 11 6 6 8Kelantan 479 342 15 19 19 27Melaka 85 102 16 7 7 9Negeri Sembilan 129 152 14 7 7 11Pahang 267 276 11 14 14 19Perak 489 501 12 23 23 32Perlis 34 15 10 1 1 1Pulau Pinang 129 102 11 6 6 8Selangor 132 109 15 3 3 4Terengganu 237 176 8 7 7 10West Malaysia 3 611 3 274 13 166 166 235Sabah 127 - - -Sarawak 322 13 15 15 21Total Malaysia 3 611 3 680 12 181 181 256


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 049 914 19 38 38 54Kedah 218 140 14 5 5 7Kelantan 682 634 19 29 29 42Melaka 58 57 22 2 2 3Negeri Sembilan 73 95 22 4 4 6Pahang 260 296 12 11 11 15Perak 258 243 19 10 10 14Perlis 54 20 16 1 1 1Pulau Pinang 108 105 18 6 6 9Selangor 81 83 22 2 2 3Terengganu 277 269 10 8 8 11West Malaysia 3 117 2 856 17 116 116 164Sabah 108 17 4 4 6Sarawak 286 17 11 11 16Total Malaysia 3 117 3 250 16 131 131 186

TABLE A4.4Long bean: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A4.5Cucumber: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state




State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 60 9 21 2.8 2.8 4.0Kelantan 44 54 30 2.8 2.8 4.0Negeri Sembilan 1 0 10 0.0 0.0 0.0Pahang 382 651 26 265.5 265.5 376.1Perak 3 3 15 0.4 0.4 0.6Perlis 1 1 10 0.1 0.1 0.1Pulau Pinang 7 0 8 - - -Selangor 4 4 9 0.1 0.1 0.2Terengganu 0 17 0.0 0.0 0.0West Malaysia 500 723 27 271.7 271.7 384.9Sabah 64 - - -Sarawak 12 16 3.2 3.2 4.5Total Malaysia 500 778 25 274.9 274.9 389.4

TABLE A4.6Tomato: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


55

Annex 5

Cash crops, spices and other crops


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 1 032 631 9 62 27 62Kedah 456 212 4 18 8 18Kelantan 1 115 895 6 96 42 96Melaka 17 50 4 7 3 7Negeri Sembilan 89 85 15 8 3 8Pahang 1 535 733 5 69 30 69Perak 348 599 5 51 22 51Perlis 50 43 4 1 1 1Pulau Pinang 139 50 10 11 5 11Selangor 290 239 13 18 8 18Terengganu 466 425 4 37 16 37West Malaysia 5 537 3 963 6 378 166 378Sabah 1 644 4 123 54 123Sarawak 6 101 2 950 5 186 82 186Total Malaysia 11 639 7 461 6 687 301 687

TABLEA5.1Maize: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state

a Total planted area. b Harvested area. c 2002.Source: Department of Agriculture, 1998-2002

TABLE A5.2Groundnut: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 28 17 4 0.6 1.3 1.1Kedah 9 6 5 0.2 0.3 0.3Kelantan 222 134 4 4.6 9.3 7.6Pahang 39 7 3 0.2 0.3 0.3Perak 29 22 9 1.7 3.4 2.8Terengganu 5 16 4 0.6 1.2 0.9West Malaysia 341 147 4 7.7 15.7 12.9Sabah 212 2 3.3 6.7 5.5Sarawak - - -Total Malaysia 341 192 4 11.0 22.4 18.4




State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 626 792 21 18.2 9.1 33.4Kedah 112 76 4 - - -Kelantan 96 80 17 0.9 0.5 1.7Melaka 10 38 19 0.7 0.4 1.3Negeri Sembilan 31 10 16 0.1 0.1 0.3Pahang 77 21 17 0.1 0.0 0.1Perak 286 96 27 0.8 0.4 1.5Pulau Pinang 78 31 20 0.4 0.2 0.8Selangor 545 229 19 2.0 1.0 3.7Terengganu 13 15 13 0.2 0.1 0.4West Malaysia 1 874 1 352 20 23.6 11.8 43.2Sabah - - -Sarawak - - -Total Malaysia 1 874 1 352 20 23.6 11.8 43.2


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 395 292 12 26.9 26.9 38.1Kedah 160 76 8 0.2 0.2 0.2Kelantan 226 185 19 18.7 18.7 26.5Melaka 13 24 21 1.6 1.6 2.2Negeri Sembilan 11 4 9 0.1 0.1 0.2Pahang 201 103 10 4.6 4.6 6.5Perak 671 431 14 26.5 26.5 37.5Perlis 2 6 5 - - -Pulau Pinang 1.4 1.4 2.0Selangor 80 27 9 15.5 15.5 22.0Terengganu 112 75 16 20.5 20.5 29.0West Malaysia 90 130 7 115.9 115.9 164.2Sabah 1 933 1 351 13 9.1 9.1 12.8Sarawak 98 13 - - -Total Malaysia 1 933 1 384 12 124.9 124.9 177.0

TABLE: A5.3Cassava: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A5.4Sweet potato: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


Annex 5 – Cash crops, spices and other crops 57


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 45 47 9 5.6 1.5 3.1Kedah 5 5 6 - - -Kelantan 27 30 12 4.9 1.3 2.7Negeri Sembilan 20 9 3 0.4 0.1 0.2Pahang 48 13 3 0.2 0.1Perak 11 3 5 0.1 - 0.1Pulau Pinang 0 2 - - -Selangor 10 12 3 0.5 0.1 0.3Terengganu 5 6 8 0.8 0.2 0.5West Malaysia 167 124 8 12.6 3.3 7.0Sabah - - -Sarawak 82 7 4.2 1.1 2.3Total Malaysia 167 206 8 16.8 4.3 9.3


State 1997/99a 2000/02b 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

Johor 71 24 11 0.6 0.6 0.8

Kedah 0 1 4 - - -Kelantan 17 12 14 1.0 1.0 1.5Negeri Sembilan 2 - 6 - - -Pahang 104 136 5 12.0 12.0 17.0Perak 1 2 13 0.1 0.1 0.1Selangor - - 12 - - -Terengganu 168 38 14 1.7 1.7 2.4West Malaysia 2 5 - - -Sabah 362 212 12 15.4 15.4 21.8Sarawak - - - - - -Total Malaysia 474 213 10 15.3 15.3 21.7

TABLE A5.5Hot chili: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state


TABLE A5.6Ginger: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state



Area (ha) Yield (t/ha) Fertilizer use (tonnesd)

Region 1997/99b 2000/02c 2000/02 N P2O5 K2O

West Malaysia 1,a 42 20 5.1 - - -Sabah 2 48 43 0.2 - - -Sarawak 2 11 256 13 627 2.9 1193 537 1 640Total Malaysia 11 346 13 669 2.9 1193 537 1 640

Crop Lime Lemon grass

Area (ha) Yield t/ha Area (ha) Yield t/ha

State 2000/02 2000/02 2000/02 2000/02

Johor 168 7 212 27

Kedah 11 3 19 5

Kelantan 103 5 28 8

Melaka 7 10 1 14

Negeri Sembilan 12 5 85 10

Pahang 12 3 35 3

Perak 70 5 28 6

Perlis 2 3 0 6

Pulau Pinang 7 3 6 5

Selangor 15 7 78 22

Terengganu 17 4 3 14

West Malaysia 421 6 495 18

Sabah 0 25 15

Sarawak 40 0

Total Malaysia 461 6 503 18

TABLE A5.7Pepper: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state

a Total for Johor, Kedah and Kelantan only with Terengganu included in year 2001;1 Green, black and white pepper.2 Black and white pepper only.b Total planted area. c Harvested area. d 2002.Source: Department of Agriculture, 1998-2002.

TABLE A5.8Lime and Lemon grass: areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use by state

The development of the agriculture sector and improvement of the living standards of small-scale

farmers are priorities of the Government of Malaysia. A higher level of agricultural production requires an

increased and/or more effi cient use of inputs, especially fertilizers. Fertilizer purchases by smallholder farmers

are subsidized. A better use of available organic wastes, organic farming and integrated farming systems is being

promoted. There is a highly competitive distribution sector for fertilizers. Fertilizer use in Malaysia is characterized by a large consumption of directly applied phosphate rock, attributable to the acidic nature of the soils and the large

area of perennial plantation crops, and of potassium owing to the large area of oil-palm. Oil-palm is by far the largest fertilizer-consuming crop in Malaysia. In this publication, the quantities of fertilizers used on thirty crops, divided into fi ve groups, are calculated based on recommended

fertilizer rates, expected and achieved yields. Information is given on fertilizer prices, crop prices and, as an indication of the profi tability of fertilizer use, the crop price: nutrient

price ratios for a selection of fruit and vegetable crops.

TC/D/Y5797E/1/12.04/300

Fertilizer Use Malaysia

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