THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

The Department of Agriculture and the agricultural sector of Brunei Darussalam had come a long way since the establishment of agricultural administration in 1932 under the colonial government. Agriculture was an important economic sector in the years before the Second World war. Rubber, sago and pepper were planted on commercial scales in estate plantations that some these commodities were exported.

However, after the Second World war, the agricultural sector of Brunei Darussalam has been struggling to regain its former status. A main contributory factor was the emerging petroleum industry that has overshadowed almost all aspects of the socio-economy of Brunei Darussalam. Droves of people were drawn into the mining sector that has promised more lucrative salaries and working environment. Agricultural production took a steep dive with only rubber and sago remained the surviving export agro-commodities after the war, but that too had ceased altogether after 1947.

Undoubtedly, agriculture in Brunei Darussalam has a strong root of history in this country that it has always been closely associated with the economy and social lifestyle of the people. The challenge to the present and future generations is to revive and revitalise the agricultural sector as a vibrant economic sector to realise the national aspiration of diversifying the economy. In this regard, a well thought out plan has been drawn upped known as the grand "Agro-Vision 2023".

The Agro-Vision 2023 is a marked departure from the previous agricultural development plans that normally react to the prevailing situations, especially in achieving certain output targets as guided by the economic policy of import substitution. After 70 years of existence, the Department of Agriculture is now shiftingits attention away from the reactive approach towards strategic development in fostering a dynamic agribusiness that is profitable and capable of delivering the aspiration of economic diversification.

It is recognised that the local agricultural sector is relatively uncompetitive. Thus, at best the agricultural sector could only aim to achievefull levels of self-sufficiencies for the various essential agro-foods. In this light, the development ofthe agricultural sector needs to be re-aligned with modern agribusiness that would take full advantage of the opportunities in agro-food processing and value-adding activities in which Brunei Darussalam is well placed to compete in the opened markets.