Land, labour, and the agency of cultivators: an economic history of smallholder durian cultivation in Peninsular Malaysia, 1970-2000

• Main Author: Tay, Jun Pin
• Other Authors: Koh Keng We
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities; Durian; Agriculture history; Peninsular Malaysia
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174363
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This historical study examines the overlooked role of smallholders in durian farming in Peninsular Malaysia from 1970 to 2000. Existing studies on durian history have neglected smallholders, focusing on anthropology, consumption culture, and cultivation from the perspective of large-scale plantations after 2000. This paper addresses this literature gap by privileging smallholders’ experiences, representing the bulk of durian cultivators before 2000. This research contextualises trends in durian cultivation hectarage, derived from durian land area data in national statistical sourcebooks, using broader political economy analysis to understand the impact of federal agricultural policies and global market dynamics. The study shows that the surge in durian hectarage from 1974 onwards resulted from federal crop diversification policies, reflecting state influence over smallholders. By the 1980s, many smallholders transitioned from oil palm and rubber to durian, motivated by more mature durian distribution channels, declining commodity prices of palm oil and rubber, and higher opportunity costs of agricultural labour due to industrialisation. Smallholder durian farming, requiring minimal maintenance except at harvest, suited the constrained family labour availability during that period. In addition to agriculture history, this research contributes to Malaysia’s broader developmental economic history by examining the smallholders’ changing survival strategies within broader political-economic developments.