Chapter 7

Innovation and Challenges in Agriculture

 Agriculture in motion..

• Food production

• The Green Revolution

• Cutting-edge technologies

• The new agriculture

Technological innovation from research institutes

1) Government bodies

• MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research &

Development Institute)

• MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board)

• MCB (Malaysian Cocoa Board)

• MRB (Malaysian Rubber Board)

• FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia)

Technological innovation from research institutes

2) Universities

• Universiti Putra Malaysia

• Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

• Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

• Universiti Malaya

• Universiti Malaysia Sabah

• Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Technological innovation from research institutes

3) Private sectors

• Sime Darby
• Golden Hope
• Guthrie
• IOI
• United Plantation Berhad
• FELDA (Federal Land & Development
Authority)
• FELCRA (Federal Land Consolidation and
Rehabilitation Authority)
 1) Research in oil palm
• Golden crop of Malaysia
• Contribute RM 30b
• R&D to improve yield
• Use hybrid Dura x Pisifera (D x P) = Tenera (T)

X =

Dura Pisifera Tenera

 1) Research in oil palm

• Dumpy.Yangambi.AVROS semi
dwarf oil palm hybrid varieties
• Easy to harvest
• Improved yield potential
• Extend economic life of the
crop

Barcelos et al., (2015)

 1) Research in oil palm
• High yield clones from tissue culture
• Transgenic that will be able to produce more than
50% oleo-fatty acids

Oil palm cloning process (solid medium)

 1) Research in oil palm
• Biodiesel from oil palm
 1) Research in oil palm
• The trunk of oil palm is suitable for biocomposite
material, pulp and paper
1) Research in oil palm
1) Research in oil palm
 1) Research in oil palm
• Oil palm leaves – cattle feed
• Palm oil mill effluent (POME) – organic fertilizer
• Zero-waste industry

Company owned by
former actor, Sidi Oraza

AJIB – oil palm fertilizer

 Future research areas in oil palm
• Identifying genes to enhance disease & environmental
resistance
• Stimulating enhancement in female flowering
• Designing tools to increase the efficiency of the palm oil
planting process
 Biggest constraints in oil palm
• Land
• Labour

• How to solve – more R&D needed

 2) Research in rubber
• The Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB)
 developed high yield and disease resistant clones
 Hevea crumb => internationally recognized as high
quality raw material
 made by adding some chemicals in the latex
 produced in the form of mass of crumb-like pieces
instead of sheets
 2) Research in rubber
• Other innovations
1) Puncture tapping / micro tapping – increased latex
 Bark is quickly pierced with sharp needles
 Hormonal stimulation = ethylene
 Puncture tapping - one puncture a week is made on a
tree in an area of scraped bark. It is then treated with
stimulant and left for two to three days to allow the
latex to run into the collection cup
 2) Research in rubber
• Other innovations
2) New latex-timber clones (LTC)
 Different clones (e.g. RRIM928, RRIM929)
 Trunk harvested for timber industry
 Vitamin E has also been extracted from the latex
 3) Research in cocoa
• 2002 => Addition of biotechnology division of Malaysian
Cocoa Board
• Enhance quality of cocoa products with respect to
safety and health
• WORLD RANKING: Malaysia was no longer the main
producer of cocoa beans but the country has been ranked as
the largest cocoa grinder in the Asia-Pacific region and the
fifth biggest grinder in the world
 3) Research in cocoa
• Industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology to obtain new
products
 Useful bioactive compounds
 Associated microbes in the cocoa environment
 Cocoa waste
 3) Research in cocoa
• Industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology to obtain new
products
 Useful bioactive compounds
 Associated microbes in the cocoa environment
 Cocoa waste
 4) Research in paddy
• 70% self-sufficiency in rice, target 90%
• Aims to raise the yield to 10 tons per ha with the use of new
technology
• Popular varieties: MR220, MR219, MR211, MR81

Paddy trans planter New mechanized seeder and

trans planter for paddy farmers in
Sri Lanka – reduce costs of crop
establishment and improve yields
 4) Research in paddy

• Vita-grow ® - paddy fertilizer

 Specially formulated chemical fertilizer
 Successful in doubling paddy yield and
producing better rice

• Zappa ® - paddy fertilizer

 Product that enhances rapid germination
and tillering
 5) Research on livestock
• Integration of livestock rearing in oil palm plantations
• Reducing management cost
• FELDA, RISDA, FELCRA

Crop-animal Integrated Farming

Cattle integration with oil palm in Lundu, Sarawak
 5) Research on livestock
• Hybridization
 New breed of beef cattle named Brahmas, a
cross-breed between imported Brahman and
local Kedah-Kelantan breed
 More resistant to diseases
 Buffaloes are also now selected for meat
purposes
 A sheep named Malin, a cross between
Australian and Indonesian breeds was also
developed to increase local supply of mutton
 The Boer goats, a South African breed, are also
being raised in large numbers for the same
purpose
 5) Research on livestock
• Disease
 The fowl pox and the Newcastle disease
vaccines
 Researches on deer and ostrich have been
undertaken by UPM and MARDI to provide
alternative meat resources

Manufactured by Malaysian Vaccines and

Pharmaceuticals
6) Research on fisheries and aquaculture
• Rapid detection kit for diseases

White Spot Virus symptom

7) Research on fruits, flowers and vegetables
7) Research on fruits, flowers and vegetables
• Mushroom production
• Organic vegetables
• Improvement for new varieties

Business: Cultivation of mushroom Medicinal Value: Tiger milk mushroom (Lignosus

(Ganoderma sp.) in Kelantan rhinocerus ) - one of the most popular medicinal
mushrooms used by indigenous communities of Malaysia

Zenxin Organic Park (Kluang, Johor)

 Precision Agriculture

• A holistic farm management strategy which allows adjustment of

agricultural inputs so as to match varying soil/crop needs and
field attributes
• Quantification of spatial and/or temporal variability
• Linking such variability to management actions
• It relies on new technologies like satellite imagery, information
technology and geospatial tools
• To locate their precise position in a field using satellite
positioning system like GPS
Precision Agriculture

Spatial Variability
(Differences across location)

Temporal Variability
(Differences across time / season)
Precision Agriculture

GPS-Aided-INS for Mobile Mapping in Precision

Agriculture: give farmers accurate and quick updates
about the location of the field. GPS may be blocked by
trees, buildings, and mountains but INS keeps on working

NDVI image: taken with small aerial

system Stardust II in one flight