ABSTRACT
Agriculture has always been an important sector of the Malaysian economy. Although its contribution to Malaysia’s GDP has been steadily decreasing over the last few decades (down from 33 percent in 1960 to 12.7 percent in 1996 due predominantly to an increasing emphasis on industrialization), the agricultural sector continues to grow in absolute terms (MADI, 1996; MACA, 1997). In 1985, agriculture accounted for 20.8 percent of GDP with a value of US$4.6 billion. However, in 1996, the contribution to GDP had decreased to 12.7 percent while the absolute value had increased to US$6.6 billion (MADI, 1997).
