The Agricultural Sector

Mats Lundahl () and Fredrik Sjöholm
Additional contact information
Mats Lundahl: Stockholm School of Economics

Chapter 5 in The Creation of the East Timorese Economy, 2019, pp 199-263 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This chapter contrasts Timor’s record with the agricultural dynamism evident in much of Southeast Asia. The agricultural sector is low in production, and it is not competitive internationally. Imports have to be resorted to in order to ensure food security. Production rests on shifting cultivation, bush fallow rotation, and simple hand tools. The main crops—rice and maize—both display considerable fluctuations, and their absolute yields are among the lowest in the region. The production of coffee, the most important export crop, is decreasing. The quality of the land is low and possibly declining, capital inputs are sparsely used, and credit is difficult to obtain. Most of the time, unimproved seed is used, but introduction of high-yielding varieties has proved successful for several crops. The low educational level and the lack of an effective extension service make the introduction of innovations difficult.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palscp:978-3-030-22052-5_5

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9783030220525

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-22052-5_5

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Studies in Economic History from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().