Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has finally focused on the much neglected agriculture sector to the tune of RM2.8 billion in the 2006 Budget.

Never since the Green Book revolutionary strategy for rural development introduced by the late Tun Abdul Razak, has such serious attention been given to this sector.

However, as is well known that the mere allocation of funds itself does not necessarily mean that the farmers and fishermen will 'benefit' as is being widely, if not loosely, touted in the mass media currently.

The foremost question here is whether the statutory rural institutions introduced by Razak to spearhead rural development are still properly functioning and whether (as is more likely to be the case) they may need to be reformed and restructured for this purpose.

For instance, there have never been comprehensive land reform enactments to protect tenant farmers from unscrupulous landlords, especially in the case of padi farmers who have to pay advance rents and double rentals for double-cropping.

Indeed, the research undertaken by USM in the early stages of the Muda double-cropping scheme in Kedah showed that nearly 75 percent of all land was owned by absentee landlords, and the vast majority of land under cultivation was below five relongs, which meant that tenants had no choice but to operate uneconomic holdings.

It would seem that this pattern of land ownership has not changed significantly judging from the findings of more recent studies. The so-called 'green revolution' in padi cultivation was green only 'at the top'.

Regrettably, other studies show that the institutions originally established for 'bottom-top' participatory development under the Green Book plan such as cooperatives, also do not appear to be functioning as they should.

As for the 'restructuring' of the Agricultural Department with 225 new posts and the setting-up of agricultural counselors offices abroad, the bureaucracy never seems to miss the opportunity to build its 'empire'. One must be careful to ensure that this does not happen when hard-earned public funds are at stake.

Razak's Green Book strategy, in fact, worked in the opposite direction. This was to appoint state development officers who could work directly with the people on the ground to achieve more lasting project implementation results within the bottom-top 'turun padang' concept.