This study of the so-called Green Revolution in the rice bowl region of Malaysia aims to provide an interpretation of recent changes in the Malaysian agrarian structure, and to make an analytical and theoretical contribution to the long-standing intellectual debate on the agrarian question. By joining the micro-world of household social structure and economy to the macro-world of changes in production relations, it traces out a specific trajectory of agrarian development in Malaysia.

First published in 1986, the Malaysian economy has grown remarkably since 1970 but despite this poverty is still widespread. This book examines the record of economic development in Malaysia over this period and evaluates the success of the New Economic Policy. In particular it examines the merits of the trusteeship strategy in its aim to eradicate poverty and in socioeconomimc restructuring.

Comparison of the agricultural economy and land tenure systems of eight rice farming villages of West Malaysia - discusses rural communitys, drainage and irrigation problems, cultivation techniques, agricultural mechanization, etc.; examines farm size, tenancy relations, rural employment, fishing, agricultural income, indebtedness as well as the agricultural tax system. Bibliography, glossary of Malay terms, maps, photographs and statistical tables.