Potential of Idle Land for Mixed Vegetable and Fruit Farming Using Linear Programming

Idle land remains to be an issue that warrants further investigation. This study aspires to unveil the economic potential of idle land which is cultivated with a combination of cash crops -- vegetables and fruits by young enterprising individuals. Linear programming is employed to derive optimal solution for a combined crop harvests. The return from crop combination of corn, cucumber, eggplant, and carrot grossed at RM 61,984. If land can be further increased because of the availability of idle land while financial capital can be borrowed from the State Authority or agriculture bank, with existing labor cash returns for these farms can be raised to RM 81,581 per year. Sensitivity analysis on the corn price as an important crop shows that a fall in the corn price from RM 5,700 to RM 5,000 per metric ton, farm’s income will be reduced to RM 56,734. These produces could be marketed wholesale within the state. The market is assured locally and they can be exported to other States. The major drawback of this project is that the South China sea monsoon often brings unpredictable floods that could damage the crops.