Since its founding in 1915, the area initially grew as a
rubber planting place. There are vast areas planted with rubber in the early days under the Guthrie Ropel Group, Asiatic Plantations,
Harrisons & Crossfield and various other rubber companies. An innovation was the process of vacuum evaporation of rubber latex by the Revertex company. Planters established the Kluang Club which is still thriving as the Kluang Country Club. Notable rubber plantations, surrounding Kluang town were Lambak Estate, Mengkibol Estate, Kluang Estate, Coronation Estate, Wessington Estate (now renamed as Simpang Renggam Estate), Benut Estate, Paloh Estate, Sepuloh Estate, Chamek Estate, Niyor Estate, Kahang Estate, Pamol Estate and Kekayaan Estate. Among the rubber plantations, Lambak Estate is elaborately described in the book
Malabar to Malaya written by Ravindran Raghavan who was born in this estate in 1965. The book gives a first-hand account of life in the estate and also provides statistics about wages earned by a rubber tapper family residing in the estate between 1977 and 1986. Among the early Indian settlers who "migrated" here during the British era (they were considered as non-legitimate property owners at that time) were those who built some temples (although contrary against the British binding precedent) and the notable toddy shops in the surrounding areas of Kluang. Today you can find the remaining commercial elements in the "Little India" section of Kluang town. You can find "ONE" from a million interesting stories on the website containing the biography of Ravindran Raghavan (), a native Kluang boy who grew in a rubber estate. Rubber planting has over time transitioned to other types of crops. In the 1970s, rubber plantations were gradually replanted and replaced by oil palms. Kluang now boasts large tracts of
oil palm plantations as well as
cocoa and
tea plantations. The former rubber plantation, Pamol Estate is now a high-performing palm oil plantation owned by IOI Corporation, considered one of the most efficient palm oil producers in the world. Pamol Estate has a total certified sustainable palm oil area of 12,044 hectares and a production of 56,528 tonnes. Kluang has developed a diversified agricultural and organic farm sector. New kinds of plantation such as dragon fruit and organic vegetables have emerged. One of Malaysia's largest vegetable organic farms at over 100 acres, Zenxin Agri-Organic Food, is also located in Kluang. The Kluang Modern Agriculture Project (Projek Pertanian Moden Kluang) was officially launched in 2004 and covers over 9,000 acres. Within this project, there are herbal and grazing farms, including the largest goat and sheep farm, UK Agro Farm with over 4,000 heads of sheep and goat grazing over 100 acres. Further out in Kahang, within Kluang district, is the Kahang Organic Eco Rice Farm, the first certified organic rice farm in Malaysia. == Industry and commerce ==