The Millennial Oil Palm Farmer
Meet the next-gen oil palm farmer who steers his farming comrades to embrace sustainable farming, leverage new tools and reconnect with the land.
How are millennial farmers different from their older compatriots?
Historically, farming has always been driven by sustenance – to feed, shelter, and clothe the family. Today, new generation farming prioritises lifestyle choices, advocacy and conservation.
“My father’s generation extols the virtue of hard work. They don’t mind the drudgery, as long as they could create a better life. They don’t mull over green issues,” says 29-year-old independent smallholder Muhammad Hariz Mat Jailani.
“My generation puts equal weights on social, environmental and economic success. Working smart outweighs working hard!”
The millennial generation (those born between 1981 and 1996) bridges traditional growing methods with innovative practices, leverages technology and tools to farm more efficiently, and cares about environmental challenges.
The Gen Y Farmer
Muhammad Hariz is a third generation oil palm farmer from Kampung Sungai Lesong, an idyllic Malay village tucked in Batang Padang District, Perak, a two-hour drive north of Kuala Lumpur. He owns and manages a 1.2 ha-smallholding in Sg Lesong.
Young farmers like Muhammad Hariz are an anomaly in Malaysia, where the average oil palm farmer is 58 years old, according to a study (Azman Ismail, 2018). 92% of these smallholders hire workers for harvesting and collecting FFB (fresh fruit bunches), and over 65% were foreign workers.
As a full-time farmer, Muhammad Hariz is as hands-on as they come. From applying fertiliser and grass cutting (to manage weeds) to harvesting and collecting palm fruits, he does it all. He also helps out at his father’s oil palm plots, totalling 40 hectares, for additional income.
“One of the many perks of being young and strong means we’re not at the mercy of migrant labour,” says Muhammad Hariz with a smile. “More importantly, we bring a fresh mindset and are open to trying and exploring different approaches.”
As the chairman of the Young Farmers Coalition under the Farmers Organization Authority Tapah Area (Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan Tapah), Muhammad Hariz leads a group of 90 farmers, below the age of 40, from diverse backgrounds – from oil palm smallholders and vegetable growers to cash crop, livestock and aqua farmers. And this Gen Y farmer is on a mission to grow the new generation farmer network that advocates for nature-positive farming.
The formative years
But Muhammad Hariz’s farming journey isn’t a clear-cut trajectory. Born in a family of six siblings, the middle child was adamant not to follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps.
In Sg Lesong, agriculture – oil palm and other cash crops, is the mainstay of the local economy. Muhammad Hariz’s grandfather began planting oil palm in 1987 on land converted from rubber plantations. His father, Mat Jailani Arshad, inherited the family legacy in the 90s.
Mat Jailani is the ‘rock star’ farmer in the farming fraternity. A two-time winner of the Anugerah Peladang Jaya (exemplary farmer award) from the Farmers Organization Authority, which boasts 10,000 members nationwide, Mat Jailani regularly gets invited by farming associations and government agencies, including the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), to share his farming know-hows. He was also a member of MPOB’s 30 Tonne Club, an incentive to recognise farmers who churns out 30 tons per hectare per year (the average farmer produces a maximum yield of 19 mt per hectare). Today, his farms generate an average of 25 mt per hectare. Mat Jailani also heads the Tapah Area Farmers Organization with over 500 members, and runs a lucrative kelulut (Meliponini) honey enterprise and fertiliser business.
Talk about the pressure of being his father’s son.
After high school, Muhammad Hariz wasn’t keen to continue higher education. He joined the rural exodus to seek greener pastures.
“Like my peers, I wanted an office job. Farming was perceived as dirty, back-breaking and backward,” he admits. With only a high school diploma, his options were limited and he couldn’t find stable employment. After shuffling between odd jobs, he changed tack.
“My dad isn’t getting any younger so I thought it’s time for me to step up,” says Muhammad Hariz. His older siblings were pursuing their tertiary degrees and the two younger siblings were still in school at that time.
In 2015, his father gave him a three acre-sized plot to develop. Unlike most farmers starting out, Muhammad Hariz has the upper hand, thanks to lessons gained from working on the family farm.
“One of many valuable tips from my dad was the importance of sourcing high-quality palm seedlings from a trusted supplier,” says Muhammad Hariz. He waited one year to get his hands on good seedlings. In the interim, he planted bananas and pineapples as cash crops. Taking a cue from his dad, Muhammad Hariz reared livestocks like cows, buffalos and goats as his side hustle.
In 2019, he joined MPOB’s Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOC) initiative to work towards his MSPO certification. Although he usually taps into his father’s broad experience and wisdom, he is always open to gaining new insights.
“Through the TUNAS extension agents, I learned about good agricultural practices like cutting down chemical inputs and the importance of nutrient management and keeping ground cover to maintain moisture and soil organic matter,” he explains. He received his Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification in 2020. “I shaved 30% off my production costs just from reducing chemical use.”
Spurred by his father, Muhammad Hariz joined Wild Asia Group Scheme (WAGS) in 2021 to further improve his farm management practices and to meet international sustainability standards. Mat Jailani has been a WAGS member since 2017 and joined WAGS BIO programme in 2020.
As a young, impressionable farmer, however, Muhammad Hariz is not immune to other farmers’ critiques. When he switched to using a grass cutter, instead of herbicide, to manage weeds, neighbouring farmers complained about the messy undergrowth.
“They said ‘you have to use racun (pesticide) for oil palm!’ Of course, that sowed a seed of doubt and I wondered if I was doing the right thing,” he says. Yet his father’s farms have been chemical-free for eight years and still reaping high yields.
“He must be doing something right,” Muhammad Hariz adds. “Another piece of advice from dad: “don’t listen to those who demoralise you!” ”
It’s been four years now since he last applied herbicide on his farm.
Connecting the dots
It was the WAGS BIO training, however, that proved to be a game changer for Muhammad Hariz.
Initiated by Wild Asia in 2019, WAGS BIO is a production system designed to help conventional oil palm farmers switch to regenerative agriculture practices.
Regenerative farming helps to restore and regenerate soil health by restoring its carbon content, which in turn improves plant health, productivity and resistance to pests and disease. Through hands-on BIO workshops, Muhammad Hariz learned to make compost, fruit enzymes and fish fertiliser to create microbe-rich soil. He also uncovered the benefits of intercropping and integrated pest management to improve soil and farm biodiversity.
For the past three years, he has been using BIO juice and fish hydrolysate (liquid enzyme fertilisers) on his farm and reducing synthetic fertiliser applications progressively.
Today, his yields have grown by 30%, his trees are disease- and pest-free with healthy green fronds. More insects are buzzing around his farm, an indicator of a healthy ecosystem.
“We spotted a giant shield bug (Pycanum sp.) recently. My dad says this bug hasn’t been seen in this village for 50 years,” says Muhammad Hariz, proudly.
Psyched by the tangible results, he ran an informal BIO juice workshop for a group of farming friends in 2023. Out of 10 farmers who showed up for the workshop, four of them are still applying what they learned into their farming operations. One 32-year-old farmer, who grows bananas, pineapples and sengkuang (Pachyrhizus erosus) commercially, did a 180-degree switch to organic fertiliser. Not only did he reduce his farming costs, he is fetching a premium price for his chemical-free crops.
“Beyond yields and profits, what excites us is knowing that we have cheap, low-tech solutions to build resilience to climate change,” says Muhammad Hariz. For these young farmers, adopting regenerative farming translates to advocacy in action.
“Farming is a way to be economically empowered so young people won’t be exploited…we’re rallying for more support and incentives for young farmers.”
Leading the new generation farmers
Today, Muhammad Hariz’s income averages MYR 4,000 a month, including wages from working on his dad’s farms. He invested in a powerful mist blower for spreading organic liquid fertiliser and an electric harvester to increase his work efficiency.
“Sometimes I wonder when I will be as good as my dad,” he says, chuckling. “But he’s happy if I can emulate just 50% of his practices.”
More importantly, he knows his father always has his back.
To his peers, however, Muhammad Hariz is their role model and ring leader. Heading the young farmers’ group allows him to share ideas and practices with other farmers. Out of the 90 members, 40 are oil palm farmers, including part-timers. The group meets up monthly to brainstorm ideas and organise talks, workshops and study tours to farms and factories. Topping their agenda are issues like land, subsidy and market access, high equipment costs and training opportunities to hone a range of skill sets.
“We’re rallying for more support and incentives for young farmers,” says Muhammad Hariz. “There is still so much to learn, like harnessing technology to improve farming, for example.”
Though many young people are keen to take up farming full-time, they are wary about the economic viability and uncertainties.
“Farming is a way to be economically empowered so young people won’t be exploited,” says the bachelor who enjoys hobbies like badminton, football and mountain biking. He is also in the midst of recruiting members to form a youth club that champions sustainable farming.
“Many of my non-farmer friends are interested in farming but they’re not eligible to join the farmer group,” he adds. So far he has 15 sign-ups, including a police officer and a doctor, but he needs a minimum of 25 members to register the club.
As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate, Muhammad Hariz is starting an aqua farming venture this August. “Diversifying my income is just another way to be resilient to swings in oil palm prices,” he explains.
But come February 2025, he’s headed for another big adventure. He has been accepted into a part-time degree programme in business management at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMS). The onsite classes will only be held on weekends, which means he can continue to manage his farm.
“It’s time to step up my business knowledge and work towards my dream to become a farmer-entrepreneur,” he says.
Slowly but surely, he is stepping out of his father’s shadow.
This story is part of a farmer profile series under Malaysian Sustainable Farmer Chronicles, a collaboration between Wild Asia and Malaysian Palm Oil Council to share the innovations and best practices of MSPO – certified smallholder farmers in Malaysia.