Sago palms of the similar growth stage on shallow peat vary in length, circumference and weight of trunk. From the time of planting, a sago palm remains in the rosette stage for about 5.5 years before trunks are formed. Flower initiation occurs at 12.5 years and mature fruits are completely shed in 14.5 years.
 The average content of dry starch increases with maturation until flowering. At the younger stages, starch is mainly found at the lower portion of the trunk, indicating the progressive accumulation of starch from the base to the top of the trunk. The maximum starch content, i.e. 18-20%, is observed between the full trunk growth stage (just before the emergence of inflorescence structure) and flowering stage. Thereafter, the starch content decreases sharply to 4-6% at the final stage.
 In contrast to normal fruiting palms, mature-fruiting palms which produced little or no fruits because of abnormal or damaged inflorescence, retain the majority of the starch in the trunks. This demonstrates that most starch in the trunk is mobilised for fruit development at the end of its life span.
 The maximum starch yield per unit time is found between the full trunk growth and flowering stages. For the maximum economic return and the promotion of growth of successor palms, harvesting should be carried out the full trunk growth stage.

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 In Southeast Sulawesi State in Indonesia which has still been underdeveloped, there are four provinces, two located in the peninsular and inhabited by the Tolaki (including the Mekongka) and the other two located in the southern islands and inhabited by the Butonise and the Munaise. The traditional agriculture consisted of shifting farming and sago palm cultivation. Recently, however, paddy rice cultivation was introduced to the area largely owing to the transmigrants from Java, Bali and South Sulawesi, whose culture including rice cultivation had been developed. The villages in the peninsular are classified into three types: the first, inhabited exclusively by the indigenous ethnic group; the second, inhabited by the indigenous group and one transmigrated ethnic group; and the third, inhabited by the indigenous group and several transmigrated ethnic groups. The inter-village difference in ethnicity is closely related to the diversification of agricultural strategies, as represented by the relative importance of sago starch in some villages and that of maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and bananas in others in addition to rice as the staple.

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 In some villages of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, the traditional shifting cultivation and sago exploitation have played important roles in the household economy. The farmers can harvest 1.5 t/ha of upland rice and 2.5 t/ha of maize (kernel). Since the most farming households use 1 ha for upland rice cultivation in the hilly area, its products is enough to support their life. In contrast, exploitation of sago, which grows exclusively in swamp area, requires more work input (15 work man-days per tree). A factory of sago starch extraction was established in Mowewe village, but the farmers have not been provided with enough sago for the forestry but only enough for their own consumption. The major reason for this comes from the climatic conditions which do not allow the farmers to produce sago throughout the year nor supply enough water for washing pith. The transportation of sago in a wet-powder state to the factory tends to spoil the starch; this means that sago starch can be utilized in the sago-producing villages or at the nearby local markets, for instance using trucks for transportation, as in the Kendari markets.

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 In many tropical countries, sago starch is used as an important staple diet. Some useful properties of sago starch are discussed in this paper.
 Physical and chemical properties of sago starch were examined using the following methods. Scaning electron micros­copy was used for observing cross sections of the stem of sago palm. Viscography, swelling power, solubility, amylose content and chain length of amylopectin molecules of the starch were determind. Degree of gelatinization and retrogradation during heating of starch and standing the paste were determined by the beta-amylase and pullulanase method. Rheorogical and textural properties of sago starch were determined by dynamic visco-elasticity and tensipresser.
 Cooking quality and processing properties of sago starch were also studied from the interest in food culture. Harusame (mung bean starch noodle), blanc-manger (corn starch pudding), kuzu-zakura (traditional Japanese sweet cake, made by kuzu starch gel and filled with sweetened red bean paste), warabi-mochi (bracken root starch paste) and goma-tofu (sesame seed tofu) were prepared, using sago starch as the substitutes of the original starch materials. Differences in substitution of wheat flour by sago starch for baking were also examined. These results indicated that qualified sago starch could be used as multipurpose cooking starch and also for various processed foods.

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 Suckers are the most popularly used planting materials in establishing sago palms in small-holder gardens and plantations in Sarawak. This is because suckers are true-to-type and are faster in their subsequent estabishment as compared to seedlings raised from open pollinated seeds.
 In the world's first sago palm plantation in Mukah, Sarawak, large numbers of suckers were nursed for three to five months in nurseries before field planting. The nurseries were usually sited in open fields and frequently, a substantial proportion of the suckers failed to survive. The mortality rate was extremely high especially in the dry season and most of the death occurred during the first month of planting in the nursery, causing substantial financial losses in the nursery.
 In the current study, factors suspected to affect the subsequent survival rate of sago palm suckers were investigated. It was found that survival was significantly enhanced if suckers were planted promptly, notably within three days after removal from the parental palm. Suckers stored for more than two weeks before planting generally showed a marked decrease in their subsequent survival in the nursery. When the cut-ends as well as part or whole rhizome were completely buried in the soil, an increased rate of survival was also obtained. Rhizomes planted 8 cm below or just placed on top of the soil surface were shown to have lower survival rate. Trimming of roots to as short as 1 cm did not affect the subsequent survival of the suckers but excessive trimming of the rhizomes was deleterious. Shading of suckers during the dry season appeared to contribute positively to their successful establishment.
 When planting of suckers was delayed, treatment with a wide spectrum fungicide together with keeping the suckers in cool and moist places were shown to reduce their mortality rate.
 Based on the above findings and experience gained in the field, a recommendation on some of the important aspects in sago palm nursery practices is made.

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