The Role Of Plantation Crops In Agricultural Development PDF Download

Plantation agriculture is defined as an agricultural system in which crop production is carried out in agro-business organisations with a strict bureaucratic internal structure, termed plantations. The characteristic features of plantations are a formal hierarchy of management control, specialization of the workforce and standardisation of agricultural techniques. It is argued that plantation agriculture is an appropriate agricultural system for the production, in the humid tropics, of perennial crops, particularly non-seasonal harvest tree crops which require complex processing. The organization of production in a bureaucracy is considered a major factor in plantations adapting to become a pan-tropical institution in differing political, economic and cultural environments and being able to compete with low cost smallholding producers. A new typology of plantation agriculture is proposed based on the parameters of degree of bureaucratic structure, area of landholding and complexity of processing. Unlike traditional typologies of agricultural systems, it can be applied to plantations growing annuals such as cotton and tobaccos and to regions outside the humid tropical zones. The organisation structure of smallholder rural development schemes growing tree crops is examined. It is argued that projects that have a centralised management structure with strict supervision of farmer activities are more likely to be successful than loosely structured schemes. Tightly controlled projects are termed quasi-plantations because they incorporate certain features of the bureaucratic plantation organisation into their own internal structures. Two successful organizational models for the settlement of small farmers growing tree crops are discussed. A nucleus estate/smallholder outgrower scheme in Papua New Guinea and the plantation land settlement scheme model operated by the Federal Land Development Authority in Malaysia are described as case studies. An analysis is made of development issues brought about by the implementation of quasi-plantation projects and the role of the plantation sector in economic development.