Farming in Brunei: current systems and prospects for beef production

Abstract

The paper analyses the environmental, demographic and socio-economic characters of a topographically discrete area of 521 square kilometres of the Lower and Mid-Tutong Plain within the State of Brunei, a Muslim Sultanate on the Northwest coast of Borneo. The majority of the data was obtained through face-to-face interviews with a random sample of six hundred and fifty nine householders, an estimated sixty per cent of those resident within the project area. Detailed descriptions are given of agricultural production and farm sales. Also, information is provided on the levels of non-farm earnings and the degree to which these contribute to household incomes. Production data on liveweight gains per animal and per hectare and management regimes are detailed for a model small-holder beef unit situated in the north of the project area. Using these data an estimate is made of the possible range of smallholder beer production systems and incomes calculated using current 1977 prices. Beef consumption figures for the period 1975-1977 are detailed and a calculation made by income and ethnic group on the probable demand for beef within the State in 1984. These indicate that the State will not be able to achieve its aims of self-sufficiency and that because of location constraints on production significant advisory efforts will be necessary to increase production by any real amount. Broad based extension recommendations are made as to the methods by which production increases can be achieved within the project area.