Development of a comprehensive sustainability index and assessment for selected rice farmers in integrated agricultural development area (IADA) northwest Selangor based on environmental, economic and social dimensions

Rice crops are vital for food security and sustainability in Malaysia. However, the industry continues to faced unsustainable cultivation practices, including poor farm financial management, occupational health and safety issues, environmental pollution, and vulnerability to environmental changes. These challenges undermine the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of rice production. Although several sustainability indices have been developed, existing indices for rice cultivation inadequately integrate environmental, economic, and social criteria, are insufficiently adapted to Malaysian cultivation practices and regulations, and lack systematic index construction procedures such as normalisation, weighting, and aggregation. Consequently, their usefulness as instruments for decision-making is still limited. This research aimed to (1) identify and analyse sustainability criteria and indicator for rice farmers based on environmental, economic, and social dimensions by referring to the current sustainability framework, cultivation practices and guidelines; 2) to validate the identified sustainability criteria based on contextual and practical relevant for rice farmers by referring to the opinion of experts in sustainability and rice cultivation; and 3) to assess the sustainability performance of rice farmer cultivation practices in and develop a sustainability index using mathematical algorithm. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Sustainability criteria were identified through a rigorous review of the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA), Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO), Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Malaysian Good Agricultural Practice (MyGAP), and Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) frameworks. Semi-structured interviews with experts in sustainability and rice cultivation validated the proposed criteria. Subsequently, face-to-face questionnaires were administered to 45 purposively selected rice farmers from nine IADA blocks in Kuala Selangor and Sabak Bernam. Content and thematic analyses were used to develop the sustainability framework, while descriptive and index analyses evaluated sustainability performance. The literature review initially identified 27 criteria and 56 indicators. Following expert validation, these were refined into 20 criteria, 35 indicators, and 53 validated sub-indicators. The developed Malaysian Sustainable Rice Index (MySRI) produced sustainability scores ranging from 50.00% to 90.30%, with an overall score of 80.91%, comprising environmental (80.14%), economic (76.79%), and social (82.84%) dimensions. Pasir Panjang recorded the highest sustainability score (87.90%), while Sekinchan recorded the lowest (67.12%), with both exceeding the minimum sustainability threshold. Despite the favourable overall performance, weak practices were identified in chemical pesticide use, income diversification, and contract record management, highlighting priority areas for policy intervention and agricultural extension. The proposed MySRI provides a validated, context-specific sustainability assessment tool tailored to Malaysian rice cultivation. It integrates international and national sustainability frameworks with locally relevant cultivation practices, regulations, and measurable farm-level indicators. The incorporation of proximity-to-target and categorical normalisation, equal weighting, and additive aggregation enables comprehensive sustainability assessment, benchmarking, and identification of performance gaps. Overall, MySRI serves as a standardised decision-support tool for farmers, policymakers, and agricultural agencies, supporting continuous sustainability monitoring, evidence-based policy development, benchmarking, and targeted interventions to strengthen the sustainability of Malaysia's rice sector.