Rancangan Malaysia ke-4 - Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia

programmes and projects will, therefore, be geared to assist farmers and fishermenin less-developed areas. Efforts at maximizing form productivity of existing holdingsand creation of employment opportunities largely through integrated agriculturaldevelopment and new land development will continue to be emphasised.Issues and strategies. Two-pronged approach for agricultural development throughin situ and new land development will continue to be sustained for the FMP. Indrawing up a national agricultural policy for the future, broad evaluations on theeffectiveness of present crop and land-use strategies were made, thus paving theway for concerted efforts to be undertaken in areas where the desired impact islacking.The integrated approach towards agricultural development was increasingly adoptedin the last decade to ensure effective coordination of activities provided by variousagencies. This strategy will be further enhanced with a more streamlined approach inproject implementation through better screening of projects, distinct delineation ofagency functions and improved monitoring and evaluation to ensure maximumresults to intended beneficiaries and the overall economy.With the limited availability of suitable agricultural land for large scale landdevelopment, the large numbers of landless poor, increasing costs of developmenttriggered by high cost of labour, transport and farm inputs and the necessity ofmaintaining accepted levels of income and standard of living, the need for reviewingthe strategy for new land development cannot be overemphasised. The presentstrategy of monocrop cultivation, contractual operations of field development andlimited settler family participation in the development process will be reviewed inorder to attain maximum benefits from land development programmes. In addition,in order to ensure equitable income among settlers, cushion them againstfluctuations in income, minimise risks due to crop damages and problems attendantupon ownership of land, the Government will introduce share ownership system forfuture land development schemes. Under the new system, settlers would be givenindividual ownership of their houselot, receive wages for work and a share of theprofits of the plantation.The in situ programmes enable increases in the level of productivity and income. It isenvisaged that with intensive farming coupled with off-farm activities, the income offarmers will be further enhanced. However, the full impact will not be realisedgenerally because of uneconomic-sized holdings. The difference in income levelsbetween the beneficiaries of in situ development and that of new land developmentas well as the continuing injection of massive investments in the former, necessitatethe formulation of a land consolidation policy. For this purpose, the Government willmake the necessary amendments to the FELCRA Act.177