Malaysia

Country information

Malayan green dwarf (MGD) (Image: R. Bourdeix)

Malaysia is a country in South-East Asia, located partly on a peninsula of the Asian mainland and partly on the northern third of the island of Borneo. West (peninsular) Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, is connected by a causeway and a bridge to the island state of Singapore, and has coastlines on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. East Malaysia (Borneo) shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia.

In Malaysia, coconut ranks the fourth most important crop in terms of area planted, after oil palm, rubber and rice. In 1981, the total area planted to coconut was 409,348 ha, but by 1995 it drastically declined to 248,380 ha, which represents about 5% of the country’s total agricultural land area. By 2007 the area further declined to around 172,000 ha (FAO 2007). As in the rest of the countries in the Asia and Pacific region, smallholders dominate coconut production, with an average farm size of 2.8 ha and producing about 93% of the total coconuts in the country. It is estimated that a 90,000 farm families are involved in coconut production.

Therefore, the coconut genetic resources of the country are endangered. To improve this situation, the Malaysian Government, primarily through MARDI, collaborated with a number of international coconut R&D organizations, particularly COGENT to undertake research and development activities.

In Malaysian various research stations are involved in coconut conservation (Fong et al., 2005). In the 2000s, seednuts of new varieties namely ‘kelapa ringan’, ‘kelapa hijau’, sweet husk and spicata were collected in Kelantan and Terengganu States and sown in MARDI’s Research Station in Jerangau. Seven populations of drought-tolerant Tall cultivars were also collected from Sabah, the seednuts of which were sown in polybags at the nursery in Ulu Dusun Agriculture Research Station. Characterization data of 26 accessions from MARDI-Hilir Perak and 47 accessions from Department of Agriculture in Sabah have been submitted to the COGENT’s CGRD.

More info: Conserved coconut germplasm from Malaysia (3MB); Part 2 (2.4MB); Part 3 (2.0MB)

Collaborative Activities between BIOVERSITY/COGENT and Malaysia

1. Capacity Building

a) Technical assistance/expert advice
Six coconut specialists were sent to Malaysia from 1994 to 2000 on four technical assistance missions. These include assessing the country’s R&D capabilities and assisting the national programme in identifying common problems, opportunities and opportunities for network collaboration; identifying marketable alternative coconut products and varieties suitable for them; evaluating COGENT’s collecting and conservation strategies; and developing a cost and return analysis protocol for ongoing and future intercropping experiments as well as training local staff on using this protocol.

b) Training and human resources development
Two training courses were conducted in Malaysia from 2003 to 2004 with 41 researchers/extension officers participating from 9 countries.

Seven local staff of collaborating agencies in the country underwent BIOVERSITY-COGENT-sponsored staff development training on such courses as STANTECH training of trainers, coconut collecting and conservation, technical writing/ seminar presentation and proposal writing; coconut data analysis; coconut embryo in vitro culture techniques; Statistical Design and Germplasm x Environment Interaction Analysis Training Course; Socioeconomics and Participatory Approaches to Reduce Poverty in Coconut Growing Communities; Coconut Shell Handicraft Making; and Markets and Market Development.

c) COGENT meetings/workshops
From 1997 to 2004, five meetings have been held and hosted by Malaysia in Serdang and Kuala Lumpur.

2. Research Projects

Six projects have been completed in the country, with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and Department of Agriculture in Sabah spearheading their implementation.

3. Financial Support and Funding

Donor funding for BIOVERSITY-COGENT-initiated projects in Malaysia amounts to US$ 81,800, mostly from ADB, APCC, DFID and IFAD, while counterpart financing for these projects by the national government amounts to US$108,900.

4. Summary of Activities and Accomplishments, Malaysia

Prepared by:
Yeow Giap Seng, COGENT Programme Assistant