The loiv income of smallholders is a result of an interplay of many problems such as uneconomic land holdings, low utilization of modern innovative technologies, outmigration of young people from this subsector and suboptimal level of resource-use. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare current and optimum farming systems for smallholders in the districts of Muar (fohor), Sepang (Selangor) andjerantut (Pahang). Linear programming analysis is used to obta in opti mu mfarming systems su bject to agricutural constraints su ch as land, labour and capital. The resu indicate that the optimum farming system could raise the monthly income of the smallholders from $193 to $1,287 in Muar, $523 to $2,404 in Sepang and $119 to $543 in/erantut. The paper also traces the changes to optimum farming systems if the size of land is increased