The impacts and opportunities of SALCRA plantation to the landowner’s socio-economic and labour supply: a case study of SALCRA estates in saratok district

Plantation agriculture remains an important sector of the Malaysian economy. However, it faces problems of labour supply especially from the local participation, which led to the recruitment of foreign labourers. This study, therefore, attempts to assess the degree of local labour participation in the plantation sector based on the case study of landowners who participated in SALCRA rsquo;s plantations at Roban-South and Saratok oil palm estates in the Saratok District, Sarawak. The specific objectives are to determine participants rsquo; demographic characteristics, to examine how agro-economic diversification and various forms of non-farm employment influence the labour supply in the estates, and to assess the attitude of the participant s participation towards the project, the regimented working style and foreign workers - ldquo;Tenaga Kerja Indonesia rdquo; (TKI). Data for the study were collected mainly through face-to-face interviews using an interview schedule. The study revealed that 35.14% of the respondents or landowners rsquo; households supply labour to the plantations. Landowners rsquo; labour participation in SALCRA plantations is influenced by the household size and land participating in SALCRA plantations. A two-stage cluster random sampling was used to select the respondents. As the sample of the study is small and confined to only two states, its significance is only to provide an insightful understanding of local labour supply characteristics of the Roban-South and Saratok oil palm estates and cannot be taken to reflect the whole of SALCRA.