Colin Barlow

Indonesian Agricultural Development: The Awkward Case of Smallholder Tree Crops 1

The problems of transforming smallholder tree crops from traditional low-yielding to modern high-yielding technology are examined, using a meta production function approach to analyse the changes. The role of government in transformation is considered, and various ‘individual’ and ‘black’ improvement schemes implemented since the 1950s are analysed. Many of these schemes have not teen successful owing to poor planning and inadequate managerial and financial support, and their coverage has been small in relation to the huge areas needing improvement. The paper suggests a more modest ‘dispasal’ approach to transformation, concerned with setting up nurseries to provide better quality planting material and advice to individual fanners. But even this revised approach should be carefully planned and executed light of previous mistakes if it is to have widespread impact. 1 The authors wish to thank the Director of the Center for Policy and Implementation Studies, Jakarta, for providing some of the facilities whi...

The world rubber industry.

Rubber is one of the worlds major commodities. The industrys changing pattern of production, ownership and trade reflects major features of industrial organization and economic integration in the evolving global economy. Yet, in spite of the global importance of the industry, little has been written about it in recent years. The World Rubber Industry redresses this imbalance and brings the study up-to-date. The authors present a thorough analysis of the industry covering the production and processing of synthetic and natural rubber and their subsequent manufacture into rubber goods. They look first at the history and development of the two types of rubber in countries around the world, exploring the technologies and institutions involved and reviewing social and political influences on events. They also scrutinize the history and development of rubber manufacturing, and the patterns of rubber consumption, marketing and trade which this sustains. Finally, they address some central features arising from the analyses and discuss future prospects for the industry. Information is clearly presented and accessible with numerous tables and illustrations.

Growth, structural change and plantation tree crops: The case of rubber

The effects of advancing economic growth on plantations are classed in five stages, starting with conditions in a backward subsistence economy and ending under circumstances where manufacturing is dominant and planting tree crops no longer economic. Changes in relative resource prices and other factors and consequent adjustments of estates and smallholdings are taken into account, doing this in light of international experiences with such crops. The case of natural rubber is scrutinized in depth, comparing economic effects and responses in chief producing countries. The key elements in plantation adjustments of market conditions, technologies, institutional arrangements, and government interventions are finally addressed, with policies likely to facilitate appropriate modifications being indicated.

Indonesian and Malayan Agricultural Development, 1870–1940∗

∗ An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Conference on Economic Growth and Social Change in Indonesia 1820–1940, held at Groningen, Netherlands, in September 1984.

The oil palm industry

The oil palm (Elaeis guineesis Jacq) is the highest yielding of all oil-bearing plants. It grows in tropical areas, and does best with a rainfall of 2000 mm or more per year, no marked dry or wet seasons, and considerable sunshine. Recently its area has expanded rapidly, and by the year 2000 its main product, palm oil, which is used primarily for making margarine and other edible fats, is expected to have almost quadrupled its present output.

Structural change and its impact on traditional agricultural sectors of rapidly developing countries: The case of natural rubber

Rapid structural change is now a major feature of several Southeast Asian economies. It generally involves greatly expanded exports of certain commodities and manufactures accompanied by a large growth in services, and poses serious difficulties for traditional labour-intensive sectors. One important sector affected in this way is that producing natural rubber in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The difficulties mentioned occur through both resource pull effects - which are especially important in raising real wages, and spending effects - which tend to lead to an appreciation of the real exchange rate. These effects, and the problems arising from them, are examined and compared for each of the rubber sectors above. While changes of this nature call for diminution in the size of traditional sectors, there is also a need to improve economic efficiency, notably by adopting new technology more appropriate· to the emerging resource price configuration, and by moving to an agriculture where off-farm employment and other linkages are increasingly significant. Such adjustment may be both helped and constrained by institutional factors and official policies, which accordingly require careful review. These crucial policy issues, and the degree to which necessary adjustments have been made, are investigated for the rather different contexts in each of the three natural rubber-producing countries. The analysis is thought to have wider relevance for other developing countries with traditional agricultural sectors

Changing Economic Relationships in Southeast Asian Agriculture, and their Implications for Small Farmers

The last 25 years have seen radical changes in agriculture in Southeast Asia. The traditional labour-intensive subsistence farming on small holdings has been increasingly replaced by new technologies involving capital inputs, such as fertilizers, agrochemicals, and machinery. This article reviews these developments and their economic, political, and social implications.

Improving the economic impact of farming systems research

Some key practical issues in improving the economic impact of farming systems research are examined. Following some general background on how such research evolved, these issues are treated with respect to its three main stages. n nWith the ex ante stage the needs of securing representativeness of the target area and of benchmarking the wider initial situation, including economic, social and agroclimatic features, are emphasized. With the ongoing stage, the importance of using suitable partial budgeting techniques is stressed. With the ex post stage, an assessment of wider technological and economic effects is called for, together with the identification of enabling factors and constraints in technological progress. n nThe adjustment of the farming systems research process itself is finally considered, and the desirability of simplifying the process, further training junior field-level researchers and securing better interaction between workers at the various research levels, is highlighted.