Chapter 4. Fertilizer consumption by crop

In this chapter the harvested area, estimated average yields and estimated use of N, P₂O₅ and K₂O are given for selected crops in Malaysia.

The average yields were estimated from the crop area equivalent (CAE), harvested area and production data. In each case, the production data in kg or tonnes was divided by the total area harvested (hectares) to obtain the average yield. The CAE represents the total area harvested in the year from crops that have more than one cropping season a year.

Fertilizer use on each crop was estimated from recommended fertilizer rates, the expected yields and actual yields per hectare. According to these calculations, the estimated fertilizer nutrient consumption for each of the groups of crops is as follows (Table 6).

According to these figures, on average in 2000 and 2001, the industrial crops accounted for 96 percent of total nutrient use, fruit crops for 3 percent, vegetable crops for 0.3 percent, cash crops and spices for the remainder. Paddy is included in the group of industrial crops. The estimated total nutrient consumption on paddy amounted to 63 500 tonnes nutrient in 2000/01, i.e. 5.6 percent of the total of industrial crops, 5.4 percent of all crops.

In some cases, data were unavailable and their unavailability is indicated by a hyphen in the tables. In the tables, 1997/99 and 2000/02 indicate the three year averages.

TABLE 6
Fertilizer nutrient consumption by crop groups ('000 tonnes)

	N			P₂O₅			K₂O
	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Industrial	319	331	334	333	348	348	468	481	478
Fruit	11	11	14	11	11	14	14	14	18
Vegetables	1.2	1	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.7	1.5	1.6
Cash crops	1.2	1.1	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.5	1.3	1.2	0.9
Spices	0.5	0.5	1.2	0.2	0.2	0.6	0.6	0.7	1.7
Total	333	345	351	346	361	364	486	498	500

INDUSTRIAL CROPS

The industrial crops of Malaysia include rubber, coconut, oil-palm, cocoa, coffee, paddy, sugar cane, tea and tobacco. In 2001, these crops occupied 5.9 million ha (93.6 percent) of the total cultivated area.

Tables 7 to 12 show the harvested area and estimated average yields for the period 1997 to 2002 for rubber, oil-palm, paddy, coconut, cocoa and tobacco respectively, for the various states in Malaysia. The national average yields of the aforementioned crops in 2001 were 963, 19 140 (FFB), 3 110, 149, 996 and 4 665 kg/ha respectively.

The years selected for the tables are 1997, 2000 and 2001 (or 2001 and 2002 if available) for each of the six crops. Tables 7 to 12 show the harvested areas and average yields, by state, for each crop. Tables 13 to 18 show the calculated use of N, P₂O₅ and K₂O on each crop. A summary table (Table 19) for the selected industrial crops shows that oil-palm is by far the largest consumer of fertilizer and that this consumption has been increasing. Fertilizer use on rubber has been declining. This is due mostly to the expansion of the cultivated areas of oil-palm and a reduction in the areas planted to rubber. The total N, P₂O₅ and K₂O consumption in 2001 for this group of crops was 334 000 tonnes, 348 000 tonnes and 480 000 tonnes, respectively. Paddy was the second largest fertilizer consumer among this group of crops, but with only 6 percent of the consumption of oil-palm.

TABLE 7
Rubber: harvested area and average yield

State	Harvested area ('000 ha)			Average yield (kg/ha)^a
State	1997	2001	2002	1997	2001	2002
Johor	24.8	14.8	12.9	1 206	881	881
Kedah and Perlis	42.3	24.6	22.2	1 083	971	971
Kelantan	15.4	9.7	8.6	876	872	872
Melaka	10.0	5.6	3.9	1 114	693	693
Negeri Sembilan	34.6	17.7	14.1	1 142	1 167	1 167
Pahang	28.5	12.8	12.3	993	1 035	1 035
Perak	26.0	8.7	7.0	1 182	1 221	1 221
Pulau Pinang	0.3	-	-	739	-	-
Selangor	11.6	6.6	5.0	960	723	723
Terengganu	1.9	0.1	0.1	810	971	971
West Malaysia	195.4	100.6	86.1	1 034	960	982
Sabah and	5.3	1.9	1.0	771	448	448
Sarawak
Total Malaysia	200.7	102.5	87.1	1 076	963	976

^a.For estates only.
Source: Various Rubber Statistics Handbooks, Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2002 and 2003.

TABLE 8
Oil-palm: harvested area and average FFB yield

State	Harvested area ('000 ha)			Average FFB yield (t/ha)^a
State	1997	2001	2002	1997	2001	2002
Johor	587.0	636.8	664.1	19.72	19.17	17.88
Kedah	41.6	63.8	66.1	18.25	18.53	15.1
Kelantan	72.8	77.2	75.8	13.58	15.22	14.87
Melaka	35.6	41.9	45.3	22.62	24.89	20.54
Negeri Sembilan	105.3	134.4	130.5	20.59	20.89	17.38
Pahang	540.1	532.5	584.5	18.28	19.09	16.87
Perak	276.0	309.1	313.1	22.15	21.55	20.79
Pulau Pinang	14.9	14.8	13.7	19.08	19.85	15.93
Selangor	139.7	130.4	137.8	19.85	19.79	18.65
Terengganu	143.6	155.9	156.2	14.53	13.86	13.27
West Malaysia	1 956.6	2 096.8	2 187.1	19.07	19.17	17.45
Sabah	758.6	1 027.3	1 069.0	20.09	21.04	20.57
Sarawak	175.1	374.8	414.3	15.05	12.37	12.65
Total Malaysia	2 890.3	3 498.9	3 670.4	19.10	19.14	17.97

^a. For estates only.
FFB = Fresh Fruit Bunch
Source: Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 1998-2003.

TABLE 9
Coconut: harvested area and average yield

State	Harvested area ('000 ha)			Average yield (kg/ha)^c
State	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
West Malaysia ^a	120.3	109.6	131.6	198.73	149.66	240.2
Sabah ^b	49.3	23.4	21.8	-	15.43	-
Sarawak ^a	25.6	25.6	25.5	392.45	340.14	198.9
Total Malaysia	195.2	158.6	178.6	173.95	160.58	149.23

^aEstates yield;
^bSmallholdings yield;
^cCopra (dried).
Source: Agricultural Statistics of Sarawak, 2001; Various Yearbooks of Statistics, Malaysia and Sabah; Department of Agriculture Malaysia, 2003.

TABLE 10
Paddy: harvested area and average yield

State	Harvested area ('000 ha)			Average yield (kg/ha)
State	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
Johor	1.4	2.6	2.3	2 970	3 013	3 347
Kedah	211.9	208.0	209.9	3 636	3 647	3 765
Kelantan	80.7	75.0	67.2	3 207	3 358	2 598
Melaka	1.1	2.0	2.2	2 112	3 113	2 810
Negeri Sembilan	0.6	1.8	2.3	3 050	3 180	4 370
Pahang	3.6	6.8	7.2	2 234	3 047	3 317
Perak	82.1	82.4	82.9	3 374	3 036	3 425
Perlis	46.9	51.4	51.3	3 646	3 631	3 965
Pulau Pinang	28.4	28.6	25.3	3 769	3 641	4 308
Selangor	36.9	37.9	38.0	4 615	4 667	4 760
Terengganu	20.9	22.4	20.4	3 145	3 591	3 079
West Malaysia	514.5	518.9	509.0	3 569	3 564	3 613
Sabah	49.8	48.9	42.7	2 898	3 171	3 213
Sarawak	126.5	130.9	127.1	1 145	1 043	1 640
Total Malaysia	690.8	698.7	678.8	3 068	3 064	2 822

Source: Department of Agriculture, Malaysia, 1998-2002.

TABLE 11
Cocoa: harvested area and average yield

State	Harvested area ('000 ha)			Average yield (kg/ha)
State	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
West Malaysia	39.9	15.1	10.3	700.0	1 488.3	1 436.1
Sabah	72.7	51.8	32.0	1,018.9	859.8	950.7
Sarawak	28.4	8.8	8.8	143.4	360.8	276.0
Total Malaysia	140.9	75.8	51.1	752.5	927.4	613.4

Source: Malaysian Cocoa Board, 2003.

TABLE 12
Tobacco: harvested area and average yield

State	Harvested area ('000 ha)			Average yield (kg/ha)
State	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
West Malaysia ^a	19.8	15.8	14.4	5 036	4 113	7 056
Sabah ^b	0.2	0.7	1.2	1 084	1 143	1 436
Total Malaysia	20.0	16.5	15.6	4 990	3 994	6 627

^a Flue Cured Virginia Tobacco;
^b Burley Tobacco.
Source: Ministry of Primary Industries, 2003.

TABLE 13
Rubber: estimated a fertilizer use

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2001	2002	1997	2001	2002	1997	2001	2002
Johor	2 186	952	829	3 263	1 421	1 238	5 598	2 438	2 123
Kedah and Perlis	3 354	1 751	1 578	5 007	2 614	2 356	8 591	4 484	4 042
Kelantan	985	619	546	1 471	925	815	2 523	1 586	1 399
Melaka	818	284	200	1 221	424	299	2 095	728	513
Negeri Sembilan	2 891	1 516	1 205	4 317	2 263	1 799	7 406	3 882	3 087
Pahang	2 075	970	931	3 098	1 448	1 390	5 316	2 484	2 384
Perak	2 249	778	622	3 358	1 161	928	5 761	1 992	1 592
Pulau Pinang	18	-	-	17	-	-	45	-	-
Selangor	818	350	266	797	341	259	2 096	896	682
Terengganu	111	5	4	109	5	4	285	13	10
West Malaysia	15 506	7 071	6 181	15 100	6 886	6 020	39 717	18 113	15 833
Sabah + Sarawak	298	62	32	290	61	31	762	160	82
Total Malaysia	15 803	7 228	6 213	15 390	7 039	6 051	40 479	18 514	15 915

^a For estates only.

TABLE 14
Oil-palm: estimated a fertilizer use

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2001	2002	1997	2001	2002	1997	2001	2002
Johor	49 389	52 084	50 660	55 562	58 594	56 992	77 170	81 381	79 156
Kedah	3 242	5 043	4 260	3 647	5 674	4 793	5 065	7 880	6 656
Kelantan	4 220	5 015	4 808	4 747	5 641	5 409	6 593	7 835	7 513
Melaka	3 435	4 449	3 968	3 864	5 005	4 464	5 367	6 952	6 200
Negeri Sembilan	9 249	11 982	9 678	10 405	13 479	10 887	14 451	18 721	15 121
Pahang	42 125	43 372	42 070	47 391	48 794	47 329	65 820	67 770	65 735
Perak	26 079	28 417	27 771	29 339	31 969	31 243	40 748	44 401	43 393
Pulau Pinang	1 211	1 255	933	1 362	1 412	1 049	1 892	1 961	1 458
Selangor	11 830	11 013	10 963	13 309	12 390	12 333	18 485	17 208	17 129
Terengganu	8 905	9 222	8 844	10 019	10. 374	9 949	13 915	14 409	13 818
West Malaysia	159 685	171 852	163 955	179 645	193 332	184 448	249 506	268 518	256 179
Sabah	65 024	92 224	93 819	73 152	103 752	105 546	101 600	144 100	146 592
Sarawak	11 245	19 783	22 359	12 651	22 256	25 154	17 571	30 911	34 936
Total Malaysia	235 954	283 859	280 133	265 448	319 340	315 148	368 677	443 529	437 707

^aFor estates only.

TABLE 15
Coconut: estimated fertilizer use

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
West Malaysia	553	379	731	719	493	951	553	379	731
Sabah	-	8	-	-	11	-	-	8	-
Sarawak	232	201	117	302	262	153	232	201	117
Total MalaysiaL	785	588	848	1 021	766	1 004	785	588	848

TABLE 16
Paddy: estimated fertilizer use

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
Johor	75	141	139	29	55	45	21	39	32
Kedah	13 871	13 656	14 228	5 394	5 311	5 396	3 853	3 793	3 854
Perlis	4 658	4 535	3 140	1 811	1 764	1 557	1 294	1 260	1 112
Kelantan	42	112	109	16	44	50	12	31	35
Melaka	35	101	182	14	39	31	10	28	22
Negeri Sembilan	147	373	427	57	145	127	41	104	90
Pahang	4 987	4 504	5 107	1 940	1 752	1 651	1 385	1 251	1 179
Perak	3 078	3 360	3 277	1 197	1 307	1 275	855	933	910
Pulau Pinang	1 926	1 874	1 748	749	729	680	535	521	486
Selangor	3 065	3 183	3 468	1 192	1 238	1 349	851	884	963
Terengganu	1 184	1 447	963	461	563	375	329	402	268
West Malaysia	33 068	33 286	32 228	12 860	12 947	12 536	9 186	9 246	8 951
Sabah	2 599	2 791	2 964	1 011	1 085	1 153	722	775	823
Sarawak	2 608	2 457	2 517	1 014	956	979	724	683	699
Total Malaysia	38 275	38 534	37 709	14 885	14 988	14 668	10 632	10 704	10 473

TABLE 17
Cocoa: estimated fertilizer use

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
West Malaysia	1 364	1 101	724	636	514	338	1 636	1 321	868
Sabah	3 619	2 177	1 487	1 688	1 015	693	4 341	2 612	1 784
Sarawak	199	155	119	93	72	56	238	186	143
Total Malaysia	5 182	3 433	2 330	2 417	1 601	1 087	6 215	4 119	2 795

TABLE 18
Tobacco: estimated fertilizer use

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
West Malaysia	2 658	1 729	2 708	6 810	4 430	6 938	4 319	2 809	4 400
Sabah	7	20	46	17	52	117	11	33	74
Sarawak	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Malaysia	2 665	1 749	2 754	6 827	4 482	7 055	4 330	2 842	4 474

TABLE 19
Summary of fertilizer use: Industrial crops

Tonnes	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
Tonnes	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002	1997	2000	2002
Rubber	15.8	9.3	6.2	15.4	9.0	6.1	40.5	23.8	15.9
Oil-palm	236.0	269.6	280.1	265.4	303.3	315.2	368.7	421.3	437.7
Paddy	38.3	38.5	37.7	14.9	15.0	14.7	10.6	10.7	10.5
Coconut	0.8	0.6	0.9	1.0	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.6	0.9
Cocoa	5.2	3.4	2.3	2.4	1.6	1.1	6.2	4.1	2.8
Tobacco	2.7	1.7	2.8	6.8	4.5	7.1	4.3	2.8	4.5

FRUIT CROPS

In 2001, all fruit crops occupied 305 thousand ha (4.8 percent) of the total cultivated area. The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of the twelve most important fruit crops are given in Annex 3 (Tables A3.1 to A3.12).

A summary is given in Table 20.
Banana was the largest consumer of fertilizer and starfruit the smallest.

VEGETABLE CROPS

In 2001, the vegetable crops in total occupied 12 682 ha (0.002 percent) of the total cultivated area in Malaysia.

This report focuses on six vegetable crops, Chinese spinach, lady's fingers, chili, long bean, cucumber and tomato. The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of the six most important vegetable crops are given in Annex 4 (Tables A4.1 to A4.6).

A summary is given in Table 21. It shows that chili was the largest consumer of fertilizer and Chinese spinach the smallest.

TABLE 20
Fruit crops: summary of total fertilizer use (excluding Sabah)

CROP	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
CROP	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Starfruit	31	35	24	31	35	24	44	49	34
Papaya	57	64	81	57	64	81	80	91	114
Cempedak	428	504	480	419	494	470	460	541	515
Durian	1 472	1 567	1 928	1 472	1 567	1 928	2 265	2 410	2 966
Sweet orange	108	98	125	108	98	125	154	141	179
Mango	84	82	108	84	82	108	129	126	166
Mangosteen	146	252	176	146	252	176	207	357	249
Pineapple	2 164	2 272	2 340	2 164	2 272	2 340	2 564	2 692	2 773
Jackfruit	54	68	86	54	68	86	77	96	122
Banana	5 729	5 369	7 670	5 729	5 369	7 670	7 031	6 589	9 413
Rambutan	636	717	911	636	717	911	901	1 016	1 291
Watermelon	373	370	424	373	370	424	262	260	298

a = Values do not include those for Sabah

TABLE 21
Vegetable crops: summary of total fertilizer use (excluding Sabah and Sarawak)

CROP	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
CROP	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Chinese spinach	81	93	107	81	93	107	115	132	152
Lady's fingers	150	124	124	150	124	124	212	175	176
Chili	361	351	302	361	351	302	511	497	428
Long bean	188	180	181	188	180	181	266	255	256
Cucumber	147	134	131	147	134	131	208	190	186
Tomato	282	192	275	282	192	275	400	271	389

a = Values do not include those for Sabah and Sarawak.

Large quantities of organic fertilizers (chicken manure and prawn dust) are used in vegetable production (Tee, 1979) but quantitative data are not available.

CASH CROPS

The cash crops in Malaysia include maize, groundnut, tapioca, taro and sweet potato. In 2001, cash crops in total occupied 16 045 ha (0.25 percent) of the total cultivated area.

TABLE 22
Cash crops: summary of total fertilizer use (excluding Sabah and Sarawak)

CROP	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
CROP	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Maize	529	586	687	232	257	301	529	586	687
Groundnut	10	7	11	20	15	22	17	12	18
Cassava	41	24	24	20	12	12	75	44	43
Sweet potato	99	109	125	99	109	125	141	155	177

The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of these crops are given in Annex 5 (Tables A5.1 to A5.4). Table 22 shows that maize is the largest consumer of fertilizer and groundnut the smallest in this group.

SPICES

The major spices of Malaysia include hot chili, ginger, turmeric, pepper, greater galangal, musklime, lime, nutmeg and lemon grass. Other spices include, Asam Gelugur, tamarind, clove and mint. In 2001, spices occupied 18 059 ha (0.28 percent) of the total cultivated area. This report focuses on hot chili, ginger, pepper, lime and lemon grass.

The areas, yields and estimated fertilizer use, by state, for each of these crops are given in Annex 5 (Tables A5.5 - A5.8). Table 23 shows that pepper is the largest consumer of fertilizers in this group. Pepper is extensively grown and commands a good market price. Estimates of fertilizer use on lime and lemon grass are not yet available.

TABLE 23
Spices: summary of total fertilizer use

CROP	N (tonnes)			P₂O₅ (tonnes)			K₂O (tonnes)
CROP	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Hot chili	17	21	17	4	5	4	9	12	9
Ginger	17	39	31	17	39	31	24	55	43
Pepper	429	429	1 193	193	193	537	590	590	1 640
Total	463	489	1 240	214	237	572	623	657	1 692