Review of Malaysian agricultural policies with regards to sustainability

Abstract

The new scientific knowledge coupled with concerns for the environmental, economic and social aspects of agriculture brought Malaysian agriculture into a state of transition. The need for reviewing Malaysian agricultural policies has arisen due to that fact that current agricultural practices in the country are found to be related to environmental, economic and social problems. This study is an effort to review the current Malaysian agricultural policies with regards to sustainability. The Third National Agricultural Policy (3NAP), which is the latest one and relevant secondary materials have primarily been reviewed to substantiate our arguments in this paper. The study, however, argues that the latest Malaysian agricultural policies are compatible with the standards of sustainable agriculture, but the current agricultural practices in the country differ, to some extent, from sustainability principles. The study ends up with some concluding remarks.