§ 83. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies approximately how many smallholders are engaged in rubber production in Malaya; the average size of their acreage; and what attention has been given to the special needs of this class of cultivator, particularly in view of the strong competition of United States and German synthetic rubber.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThere are nearly 400,000 smallholdings of an average area of under 4½ acres. No estimate of the persons engaged on smallholdings is available.
The Rubber Research Institute of Malaya has for many years operated a smallholders' Advisory Service to provide planting material and technical assistance. In addition the Federation Government have established a scheme, financed from a cess on rubber exports, under which it is intended to replant with high-yielding trees 500,000 acres of smallholders' rubber by the end of 1959.
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§ 85. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many rubber research stations in Malaya are Government-owned; the amount of financial assistance given annually by the Government for the purpose of rubber research; and, in the interest of the future economy of Malaya, to what extent the Malayan Government themselves have considered plans to promote the future development of the rubber industry and a substantial increase in production per acre.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydNone. Rubber research in Malaya is financed by the producers. The future development of the industry is under consideration in connection with the Mudie Report.