Malaysia, referred to as Malaysia, is the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Its economy grew by leaps and bounds in the 90s of the 20th century, so it was called one of the "Asian Tigers", and today it has developed into a remarkable diversified emerging industrial country in Asia and an emerging market economy in the world.
1 Basic situation of Malaysia
Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia, and its territory is divided into two parts, east and west, namely the southern part of the Malay Peninsula (West Malaysia) and the northern part of Kalimantan Island (East Malaysia), with a total land area of 330,000 square kilometers, which is the same area as Yunnan Province on the mainland.
As of now, the country's population is 33.7 million (2023), of which 70% are Malays, 22.7% are Chinese, 6.6% are Indians, and 0.7% are of other races. The official language is Malay, the currency is the Malaysian ringgit, and the main religion is Islam.
Malaysia is blessed with abundant natural resources, including rubber, palm oil, pepper, petroleum, iron, gold, tungsten, coal, bauxite, manganese and other minerals, as well as tropical hardwoods. The country's economy is dominated by manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and services. Manufacturing and mining accounted for 31% of GDP, agriculture 8%, and services 55%.
2 Overview of agriculture in Malaysia
Since the early days of independence, the government has invested more energy in agricultural development to ensure agricultural development and sufficient food supply in the country, and at the same time, the problem of farmers' prosperity is also a problem that the government has been committed to solving.
Malaysia's agricultural development has always been characterized by the use of cash crops as the main driving force for agricultural development, and the stable development of agriculture has been achieved through the cultivation of cash crops.
Malaysia's arable land area is about 4.85 million hm2, accounting for 30.6% of the arable land area, and there are a large number of uncultivated wasteland in Sabah and Sarawak, which are very suitable for the growth of crops, so the country has great potential for agricultural development.
3 Overview of fertilizer and pesticide market
The Malaysian agrochemicals market size was valued at USD 621.65 million in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 928.62 million by 2031, registering a CAGR of 4.56% from 2023 to 2031. The growth of the market is mainly attributed to the growing population, which is increasing the demand for food products.
In terms of fertilizers, Malaysia's fertilizer production in 2023 was about 5.91 million tons, down from about 7.58 million tons in the previous year. The country's fertilizer production peaked in 2022.
Malaysia imports fertilizers mainly for the cultivation of crops such as oil palm, rubber, and fruits.
China is an important source of fertilizer imports for Malaysia. In 2022, Malaysia's top five sources of fertilizer imports were Canada (27%), China (17.9%), Russia (9.43%), Germany (7.47%), and Jordan (6.58%).
The main types of fertilizers imported by Malaysia from the mainland are ammonium sulfate, compound fertilizer, urea, monoammonium phosphate and other products.
农药方面，当前马来西亚市场集中度不高，主要公司包括Agricultural Chemicals (M) Sdn Bhd (ACM), Crop Protection (M) Sdn Bhd, Hextar Group, Advansia Sdn Bhd, Sin Seng Huat, Nufarm等。
Common pests and diseases of major crops in Malaysia
In terms of product registration, the Malaysian pesticide registration holder must be a local company, and the domestic company needs to set up a branch/subsidiary locally, or find a reliable consulting company to hold the certificate on behalf of the company. The registration of the preparation requires the registration certificate of the original drug, and only one trade name is allowed for the registration of a preparation. If the target is the main Malay crops (oil palm, paddy, cocoa, black pepper), the effect must be done locally.
Statistics show that in 2022, Malaysia imported a total of US$270 million of pesticide products, mainly from the Asian region, with China as its largest supplier of pesticides. In 2022, the top five import sources were China (34.5%), Indonesia (15.1%), Thailand (10.2%), India (8.7%), and Germany (5.74%).
4 Major crops
Malaysia's agriculture is mainly based on the development of cash crops, mainly palm, rubber, durian and other tropical fruits, etc., and a large number of agricultural products such as palm oil, natural rubber and palm oil kernels are exported.
Malaysia's food production is relatively weak, domestic production has not been self-sufficient for a long time, the self-sufficiency rate of rice is only about 65%, the difference needs to be imported, the government regards rice production as one of the important guarantees to ensure national food security, and its goal is to achieve a rice self-sufficiency rate of 83%.
(1) 棕榈 / Palm
Palm oil is an important vegetable oil that is usually extracted from the pulp of palm fruits. Palm oil is a versatile vegetable oil that has a wide range of uses, from food processing to cosmetics and biofuels.
Palm trees were first introduced to Malaysia as an ornamental plant in 1870 and are now the country's most important agricultural products. Malaysia's palm plantation area has reached 5.6 million hectares in 2022, with production increasing from 90,000 tonnes in 1960 to 18.45 million tonnes in 2022.
Palm oil is one of the world's largest exporters of vegetable oil, with Malaysia and Indonesia being the world's leading exporters, accounting for 85% of total exports. Global palm oil exports reached 50.55 million tonnes in 2022, with Malaysia accounting for 31%.
In Malaysia, oil palm cultivation is dominated by the improved variety Tenera, which has shown a significant yield advantage. Oil palm can produce about 4.0 tons of palm oil per hectare, and can enter the harvest period three years after planting, and has an economic life of up to 25 years, making it one of the most oil-producing oil crops.
Oil palm trees need stable nutrients and minerals to grow. Malnourished trees produce less, resulting in lower oil recovery. Ong says a palm tree that has not been fertilised enough can produce fruit weighing as little as 15 to 18 kilograms, while a healthy palm tree can produce fruit weighing 25 to 30 kilograms.
② 橡胶 / Rubber
Rubber is one of Malaysia's main export crops and plays an important role in the country's economy.
Natural rubber cultivation in Malaysia began at the end of the 19th century, when the British introduced rubber trees from Brazil for planting, and with the continuous advancement and development of planting technology, rubber production in Malaysia has gradually become one of the important industries in the country. After the end of World War II, Malaysia's natural rubber plantation and production grew steadily, and at one time became the world's largest rubber producer.
In recent years, Malaysia has been one of the world's largest rubber producers, with more than 1 million hectares of rubber plantations, ranking third in the world in terms of acreage and fourth in terms of production.
Rubber cultivation in Malaysia is mainly based on small rubber farmers. Rubber plantations are mainly concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, with locations in Perak, Johor, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, and Penang.
(3) Rice / Rice
In Malaysia, rice is the third largest crop after oil palm and rubber and is one of the country's main food crops. Although the local climate is very suitable for rice cultivation, due to the weak agricultural production base, the rice self-sufficiency rate is only 65%, and the difference needs to be dependent on exports.
Malaysia has about 400,000 hectares of rice cultivation and an average yield of 5 tonnes per hectare. Although hybrid rice is considered a high-yielding crop in many parts of the globe, conventional rice varieties still dominate in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, rice is grown twice a year (planting season). The main season (wet weather, August to February) is based on non-irrigation systems, while the low season (dry weather, July-July) requires irrigation systems. In general, rice barns are found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
④ 榴莲 / Durian
If you are a durian veteran, you must know the two top durians of Musang King and Blackthorn. They are all produced in Malaysia. Malaysia is rich in durian, and it is also known as the "Durian Holy Land" by Durian Control. In the Ministry of Agriculture of Malaysia, there are more than 200 varieties registered.
At present, the planting scale of durian in Malaysia is about 90,000 hectares, with 100,000~500,000 pieces of fruit per year, and a production of 500,000 tons ~ 550,000 tons.
China is the world's largest importer of durian, and the import value of durian ranks first among China's imported fruits. In terms of import channels, China mainly imports durian from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
On June 19, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, the two countries jointly signed the Protocol on Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Malaysian Fresh Durian to China. The signing of this agreement lays the foundation for Malaysian durian fresh fruits to enter the Chinese market. Prior to this, the country's durian pulp and puree were approved for export to China in 2011, while frozen durian in shell was approved in 2018.
The new export channel of durian fresh fruit will promote the further development of Malaysia's durian cultivation industry.
⑤ 菠萝 / Pineapple
At present, there are about 17,000 hectares of pineapple cultivation in Malaysia. In 2022, Malaysia's pineapple production surpassed durian for the first time to become the country's most produced fruit. This is also the first time in the past five years that pineapple has topped the list of fruits produced in Malaysia.
The production of pineapples in 2022 was 537,231 tons, accounting for 29.4% of last year's total fruit production. The output of durian was 455,458 tons, ranking second.
Malaysia plans to increase its pineapple acreage to 20,000 hectares by 2024, according to Sheikh Umar Bagharib, chairman of the Malaysia Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB), according to Malaysia's The Star.
⑥ 其它 / Others
Because durian and pineapple are so "dazzling", their shine completely overshadows the other Malaysian fruits. You must know that Malaysia's unique climate and geographical conditions give birth to delicious fruits that are far more than durian and pineapple.
Almost all tropical fruits can be found here, such as rambutan, mango, mangosteen, dragon palace fruit, guava, as well as star fruit, lotus mist, jackfruit, etc., not to mention the more mainstream pomegranates, bananas, and coconuts.