Agriculture Reverse

Investment in Aceh

Pg2

Food security, safety and

quality is MARDIs focus


Pg2

Sept 2014
Vol: 002
ISSN 2289-6511

Innovation in urban farming Self watering containers

Banana diversity in Malaysia

Pg3

High Throughput Genotyping

Services at CMDV
Pg4

772289

651006

ASEAN Seed Council

Development Meeting
Pg8

Pg12

Urban Horticulture:

The way to reduce food import bill and make

our cities more livable

Minister of Agriculture (3rd from left) visiting booths at Urban Holticulture Conference 2014 in Johor Bharu

By: Datuk Seri Mohd Hashim Abdullah

Secretary General, Ministry of Agriculture
and Agro-Based Industry

he global momentum on urban

horticulture is building up, and
it is high time for Malaysia with
its RM36.09 billion food bill in 2012 to
seriously embark on urban horticulture
programmes in our cities.

Urban horticulture has been

changing the landscape, economic
outlook and vitality of many cities of
the world.
A new crop of urban farmers,
together with the relevant authorities,
communities and NGOs are turning
vacant urban plots into productive use
and turning around their communities.
They have been reaping the harvest
of urban farms which includes access to
healthy food, work force training and

job development and neighbourhood

revitalisation.
These cities have created urban
horticulture friendly policies to support
their urban horticulture programmes.
On average, it is estimated that urban
farming can produce 10-20% of the
vegetables and fruits consumed by the
local population.
Urban horticulture friendly policies
need to be developed to support
the Malaysian urban horticulture

programme. Policies should support

both the low and medium income
communities as well as communities
that could greatly benefit from urban
farms.
Some of the horticulture friendly
policies approaches include identifying
idle and underutilised industrial
and commercial facilities for urban
horticulture programmes.

More on page 6

SCIENTIA MARDI Effective sharing of information

Launching of Scientia on 27 April, 2014

by DG MARDI at Fiesta Riuh Sakan,
Putrajaya

a l aysi a h a s ident i f ie d
agriculture as the third
growth engine under the
New Economic Model and one of the
biggest challenge in encouraging the
growth of this sector lies in improving
the image and public perception of our
agricultural research and technologies
on the global stage.
There are various research and
development efforts being carried out
in food and agriculture and MARDI is
entrusted with the task of sharing and
disseminating the latest information to
the target audience and all stakeholders.
A newsletter is an effective method
of sharing the relevant information to

the target group and all stakeholders.

Called Scientia M A R DI, this
newsletter focuses more on information
about technologies and commercialisation and less on articles that are
excessively technical or too scientific
for the target group to digest.
Sharing of information through the
newsletter would have the additional
effect of promoting and encouraging the
growth of agriculture as an industry in
accordance with global trend.
Scientia MARDI is another medium
for MARDI researchers to share their
findings and latest technologies in food
and agriculture to a wider audience.
The newsletter may pave a way

of promoting strategic networking

between M A R DI and i ndust r y
st a keholders based on client /
stakeholder management principle.
Scientia is also a channel for
promoting MARDI and the countrys
capabilities and competencies in
agricultural and agro-industrial
research and development.
Apart from highlighting the latest
information and topical issues in
agricultural research and development,
Scientia will also share information
on potential investment opportunities based on the newest technologies
generated by MARDIs research and
development efforts.

Sept 2014

Sept 2014

VIEW POINT

TECHNOLOGY
MARDI featured in the South China Morning Post

Food security, safety and quality is MARDIs focus

ood powers the economy as well

as the body and the Malaysian
Agricultural Research and
Development Institute (MARDI) is
playing a key role helping the country
and other nations hone technical
services and entrepreneurship
development in food, agriculture and
related fields.
MARDI has led the successful
generation of new crop varieties

Advisor
Dato Dr. Sharif Haron
(Director General MARDI)

and animal breeds for more than

40 years and has also developed the
best management practices in the
industry using state-of-the-art horticultural, livestock and food processing
techniques, including precision farming
and soil, water and genetic resources
optimisation.
MARDI Director General, Datuk
Dr Sharif Haron said that food is not
just for nourishment but as a mean
to a healthy future for any nation, it
has to be high quality, nutritious and
sustainable.
The world is changing and so
should the ways we view, use and
cultivate food. As Malaysia aspires
to become a high income and high
productivity economy by 2020, food
security, safety and quality will be key
amid global climate change, population
growth and diminishing natural
resources.
MARDI collaborates with various
local, regional and international organisations such as the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and The

World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC) in

their key research efforts.
The institute is also open to collaboration with private companies such as
chemical specialist, BASF and food and
beverage giant, Nestle. In this instance,
the effort is to develop a bio-fortified,
vitamin A-rich sweet potato suitable for
baby food and other products.
MARDI is also in partnership with
the Shandong Academy of Sciences on
microbial fertiliser that can potentially
enrich organic fertilisers in China.
The institute also provides
consu ltancy ser vices through
its subsidiary, Marditech Corp.
and their advice and expertise in
creating sustainable food policies and
programmes have reached countries
such as Afghanistan, Syria and Nigeria.
MARDI also achieves excellent
service in developing better animal and
plant feed programmes through another
channel, The Centre for Molecular
Development and Validation (CMDV).
Beyond sharing our know-how, we
are keen on developing next-generation

products such as functional/composite

food and hybrid crops, says Sharif.
In the next five years, we envision
delving into nanotechnology, mechanisation and early warning pest control
systems, sharing our expertise with
Asia Pacific and the world.
Meanwhile, MARDI is poised to
launch a high clearance tractor with
an in house developed gear that can be
used in fields without damaging the
crops. Another project uses remote
controlled aerial vehicles in studying
vast areas for various research
purposes such as fertility surveillance.
We will continue promoting the
culture of innovation while helping
to ensure food security, increased
agricultural productivity and efficiency,
competitiveness and waste reduction
through research and technology
development.
We hope to attract more young
talents who can leverage information
and communication technology
in further developing value added
applications, Sharif added.

Agriculture Reverse
Investment in Aceh

MARDI Editorial Team

Dr. Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor
Ramlah Md Isa
Dr. Ainu Husna MS Suhaimi
Rohani Md Yon
Maheswary Vellupillai
Norhafizah Mohd Yusof

Copywriter
Shamsul Bahari Mohd Yunos

Designer
Sham Hosni

Art Director
Spice Communications Sdn Bhd

Ismail Sabri Yaakob (middle) visiting a local fish market in Aceh

For enquiries, please contact

Scientia MARDI
MARDI Headquarters,
Persiaran MARDI-UPM,
43400 Serdang Selangor,
Tel : 603-8943 7317
Fax : 603-8984 3664
Email : scientia.mardi@gmail.com

shusna@mardi.gov.my

For navigation and contact,

scan with your smartphone

By: Dato Ruhaidini Abd Kadir

Press Secretary to Minister
of MOA

early ten years since

t he t su n a m i h it
Aceh, Banda Aceh
is bustling once again, the
roads repaired, buildings
covered in fresh paint and
the people back to their
daily pursuits.
During his three-day
worki ng visit to Aceh
r e c e n t l y,
M a l a y s i a s
Minister of Agriculture
and Agro-Based Industry,
Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob
was told by Aceh Governor,
Dr. Zaini Abdullah that
without assistance from
the Indonesian Government
as well as the generosity of
international donors, Aceh

may not fully recover even

in another 20 years.
Dr. Z ai ni esti mated
that AS $7 bilion (RM23.3
bilion) in donation went into
rebuilding infrastructure
and facilities as well as rehabilitating more than 80,000
hectares of agricultural
land. A large portion of this
was paddy fields as well as
15,000 hectares of land used
for aquaculture.
The Ministers visit was
to better articulate what
kinds of investments would
benefit both Malaysia and
Aceh and align them with
the Agriculture Transformation Programme that was
recently launched.
During the MalaysiaAc eh Bu si ness For u m
dinner, Ismail Sabri said
Malaysia is looking for
win-win investment oppor-

tunities in the context of

the agriculture industry;
t hi s me a n s a reverse
i nve s t ment i n Ac ehs
agriculture, livestock and
fishery sectors. This will
involve direct imports of all
relevant products from Aceh
and giving Malaysian halal
agro products access to the
market in Aceh.
Ismail Sabri said the
focus sectors are rice,
vegetable, livestock and
fishery and investment will
be implemented this year
in Aceh by the National
Farmers
A ssociation
( NA FA S ) t h r ou g h it s
subsidiary PT Nafasindo.
Contract farms will be set
up with Aceh farmers to
ensure sustained supply.
A c e h
has
hu ge
potentials and one of their
key advantages is a large

pool of human resource.

Common culture, history
and religious background
are also magnets that attract
Malaysian investment in
Aceh, says Ismail Sabri
who led a delegation 0f
30 heads of department
and agencies under the
Ministry of Agriculture and
Agro-Based Industry.
Ismail Sabri told the
media that Malaysia and
Aceh have agreed to form
a technical committee to
discuss possible agriculture
projects i n Aceh. T he
committee is chaired by
the ministrys deputy chief
secretar y, Datuk Mohd
Arif Abdul Rahman with
memb ers f rom FA M A ,
LPP, Malaysian Fisheries
Development Board (LKIM),
Nekmat and the Veterinary
Services Department.
The Minister took the
opportunity to visit several
agro industries in Aceh
which included a livestock
farm, rice processing plant,
port and several industrial
est ates. Toget her wit h
Dr. Zaini, Ismail Sabri
also officially opened PT
Nafasindos new office in
Banda Aceh.
Ismail Sabri also had the
chance to see the dramatic
transformation in Lamulo
and Ulee Lheue from the
scene of total destruction
after the tsunami to the hive
of fishery activities today.
A deleg at ion f rom
Aceh will return our visit
next March and this is an
indication of their strong
desire and intent to work
together with us.

MARDI improves plant performance in

Kuala Lumpur urban orchard
By: Dr. Zabedah Mahmood
Horticulture Research Center, MARDI

he Malaysian Agricultural
Research and Development
Institute (MARDI) and Kuala
Lumpur City Hall ( DBKL) is working
together to upgrade and improve the
performance of fruit trees at an urban
orchard in the city.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor, Datuk Seri
Ahmad Phesal Talib said this new
concept of an orchard in the city would
create a new experience for tourists in
the capital.
A Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to facilitate the urban orchard
and urban agriculture collaboration
was signed by DBKL and MARDI on
April 7, 2014.
This three-year collaboration with
an annual budget of RM500,000 per year
focuses on urban orchard and urban
agriculture.

For the urban orchard project,

MARDI will provide technical
assistance and recommendations to
improve plant performance in the
urban orchard, hands on training and
courses to the staff of DBKL.
With the assistance of MARDI, the
longan plant in the orchard has started
to flower and fruit for the first time this
year.
For the urban agriculture portion
of the collaboration, focus will be on
the development of vertical edible
landscape, sustainable and functional
landscape for practical application in
Kuala Lumpur and development of
urban farming projects for selected
communities.
Although urban farming is widely
practiced in many cities of the world,
Malaysia is considered a beginner.
With proper planning, management
and support from city dwellers, urban
farming will soon become a reality in
Malaysian cities.

Innovation in urban farming -

Self watering containers

By: Dr. Zabedah Mahmood, Ab. Kahar
Sandrang and Sakinah Idris,
Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI

urdened with the ever increasing

food prices, the urban poor are
estimated to spend 50-70% of
their income on food. It is time for the
urban population to start growing their
own food as community or individual
projects and ensure a continuous supply
of nutritious fresh vegetables and fruits.
Before public interest can grow,
farming techniques need to be
modernised to make growing food easy
and interesting.
Growing in containers is getting
popular especially in cities where the
space for gardening is rather limited.
However, container growing is water
intensive, requiring watering two to
three times a day, every day. With
the busy city life, watering can easily
be forgotten and would be avoided
altogether during days of water
rationing.
An elegant solution to the above
scenario is using self watering
containers (SWC). MARDI has recently
innovated and commercialised SWC
with the trade name Greenkit.
Made of plastic containers, the water
reservoir at the bottom is separated
from the growing media that is fed
water through capillary tubes made
from LECA and oil palm shells. MARDI
Greenkit is the first to use hard particles
as capillary tubes compared to other
SWC which normally use wick or
fabrics which are not durable.
The hard particles in the capillary
tubes regulate the f low of water
upwards. This enables sufficient
moisture to be maintained in the
growing media and simultaneously
avoid over wetting.
Watering is done through a pvc pipe
that is connected to the reservoir. To

guide watering needs, a float indicator

is placed in the pipe.
The self watering mechanism and
the position of the reservoir minimise
evaporation losses and watering can be
reduced to once a week during the dry
season. Fertilizer use is also minimised
with about 2 grams or one tablespoon
of NPK granules for one crop of leafy
vegetables.
Measuring 56 cm x 24 cm x 21 cm,
most vegetables, herbs and ornamentals
grow well in Greenkit. The size is
sufficient for at least a single serving of
vegetables for the family. Each Greenkit
can produce a kilogramme of spinach
or kailan, sufficient for a single serving
of eight.
As for ulam, one Greenkit can
pack a few species as only a few young
shoots is usually consumed in a single
meal. It is amazing to note that we can
grow herbaceous trees such as tenggek
burung and curry plant in a Greenkit
by training them small and compact
as we keep pinching the shoots for
consumption.
Greenkit is readily available in the
market, priced at RM40 each with soiless
media.
The kit is also suitable for growing
fruits. Using the same concept of
capillary action for self watering as in
Greenkit, MARDI has developed SWC
for potted fruits. Of course, fruit trees
grown in SWC produce fewer fruits
than full grown trees in the ground.
However, picking your own fresh wax
apples or guava can be very refreshing
and therapeutic.
Most fruits that are terminal bearers
are suitable in SWC such as wax apples,
guava, starfruits, mangoes, sapota,
mulberry, limes, lemons, mandarins,
figs and even mangosteen. With a little
supporting structure, climbers such
as grapes and passion fruit can also be
grown.
The trees can be placed in the open,
on balconies or roof tops. Growing

Herbs & vegetables planted in green kit

under restricted rooting environment
coupled with proper management of
water level, fruit trees grown in SWC
were observed to flower and fruit much
earlier compared to trees planted on the
ground.
Wax apples and guava, which
normally start to bear fruits about two
and a half to three years after planting,
start to bear fruits in about six months
in SWC.
Mangosteen on the other hand start
to flower and fruit within three years

compared to five years on the ground.

It is also important to prune the potted
fruit tree after each harvest to maintain
smaller and manageable tree size.
About 50 g of NPK granules buried in
each pot every two months is sufficient
to support fruiting fruit trees as there
is no leaching of fertilizer in the SWC.
Thus, Greenkit and SWC for potted
fruits should be given consideration
when planning for planting your own
vegetables, herbs, ornamentals and
fruits.

Sept 2014

Banana

Sept 2014

BIODIVERSITY

diversity in Malaysia
By: Suhana Omar, Wan Rozita Wan Angah
Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI

t may come as a surprise to many that

banana is the third most important
human food source on the planet,
outranked only by rice and wheat in
terms of the gross value of production.
The exact origin of bananas is
unknown. However, Simmonds and
Shepherd (1995) proposed a generally
accepted theory that the Indo-Malaysia
region is the centre of origin and diversity
of bananas of the world today.
From Southeast Asia, the cultivation
of bananas spread throughout the tropics
and into the subtropics of Asia, South
America, Africa and Australia where it has gained great importance
and popularity today.
In Malaysia, over 200 accessions are kept in the field collection at
MARDI, more than 50 of which are distinct. The collection covers both
the wild and cultivated types plus a few ornamentals.
The system of bananas classification adopted follows closely to that
drawn up by Simmonds and Shepherd (1955) who used a scoring method to
indicate the relative contributions of the two wild species, Musa acuminata
and M. balbisiana, to the constitution of any given cultivar.
Using the diagnostic 15 characters which include characteristics for
pseudostem, petiole canal, peduncle, pedicel, ovule, bract shoulder, bract
scars, free sepal of male f lower, male f lower colour and stigma colour,
each of which would ref lect the differences between M. acuminata and
M. balbisiana.
Musa acuminata is a perennial plant. The pseudostem is a tightly
packed layer of leaf that emerges from the corms. The f lowers are white
to yellowish white, and both male and female f lowers are present in a
single inflorescence. Female flowers are located near the base that grows
into the fruit, while the male f lowers at the tipmost top-shaped bud in
between hard bracts.
The fruit shape is slender in berry category, the size of each depends
on the number of seeds they contain. The examples of M. acuminata
include Pisang Mas, Pisang 40 hari, Pisang Rastali, Pisang Masam, Pisang
Berangan, Pisang Raja and Pisang Raja Udang Merah.
Musa balbisiana is a species of wild banana which grows lush leaves in
clumps with a more upright habit than most cultivated bananas. Flowers
grow in inf lorescences ranging from red to maroon while the fruits are
between blue and green. They are considered inedible because of the seeds
they contain. Examples of M. balbisiana include pisang Gala, Pisang Abu
Nipah and Pisang Abu Siam.
The world produces over 70 million tonnes of banana anually and it
is interesting to note that banana is consumed mostly locally
with only about 10-15% going into the export market.
The cultivars of the export trade belong mainly to the
Cavendish group while there are still many banana
cultivars that are relatively unknown and underexploited.
The cultivated bananas and plantains belong
to the family Musaceace, genus Musa and section
Eumusa. The family Musaceace is formed by
two genera, Ensete and Musa. The genus Ensete
consists of monocarpic herbs, cultivated mainly
for their pseudostem as a staple food rather than
their fruits. Only two species, Ensete ventricosum
and E. edule, are of economic importance.
In the genus Musa, there are four main
sections, namely, Australimusa, Callimusa,
Eumusa and Rhodochlamys. The newly created
section, Ingentimus, has only one species,
M. ingens, while the section Caliimusa and
Rhodochlamys are mainly known for their
ornamentals.
The section Australimusa has two important
species, M. textiles for their fibre and M.
troglodytarum for their fruits. The most
popular and widely distributed section,
however, is Eumusa, from which most
of the edible bananas originated. The
edible cultivars were derived from two
wild species, namely, M. acuminata
Colla and M. balbisiana Colla.

Pisang Abu Nipah

Pisang Abu Siam

COMMERCIALISATION

Banana Paste for Granola Bars

By: Sharifah Samsiah Mohamad
Food Technology Research Centre, MARDI
Rashilah Mohamad
Economic Research & Technology Management Centre, MARDI

ealth consciousness has become an important by-word in food

consumerism and this has led to a boom in healthy food production,
ranging from organic to free range to low fat and high energy products
taking the market by storm.
Granola bars are important products in the health food market which is
made big by international brands such as Uncle Tobys and Nature Valley.
It continues to attract consumers who consider the granola bars as highly
nutritious snacks for active individuals.
MARDIs research has led to some local fruits that showed potential as a
substitute for temperate fruits in granola bars.
Global interest in fruits rich in polyphenols or naturally occurring phytochemicals is increasing as research shows that their properties in food products
such as confectionery bars may promote health.
Market studies conducted in Malaysia as well as abroad indicate that the
product has potential and is ready for commercialisation.
Banana paste is developed for making granola bars with natural banana
flavour and taste. It is typically used together with other ingredients to produce
heavy syrup which acts as a binder to cement a mixture of cereals, dried
fruits and other dried ingredients such as roasted nuts together in granola
bar manufacturing.

Pisang Gala

Colour

1.2

9.3

27.8

47.4

14.3

Aroma

3.7

14.6

22.3

43.4

16.0

Shape

1.3

8.4

27.5

49.6

13.2

Taste

3.5

14.4

21.8

43.4

16.9

Digestibility

2.7

10.6

25.8

46.6

14.3

Sweetness

2.0

9.8

23.9

48.6

15.7

Overall Acceptance

2.0

6.7

21.8

50.1

19.4

Attribute

Pisang Jari Buaya

2. The banana paste is pumped into a continuous mixer to combine with

the other ingredients.

Table 1 : Acceptance of banana-almond granola bar by local

consumers

% Score

Pisang Lilin

1. The banana is steam-heated in a cooker.

Consumer Acceptance Survey of Granola Bars

A survey of 1,200 respondents was carried out in the Klang Valley to
determine if the product could gain market acceptance. The respondents
were randomly chosen from all walks of life and they were given four types
of granola bars to sample, roselle-almond, date-almond, banana-almond and
coconut-almond. Table 1 below shows the survey results for banana-almond
granola bars.
The majority of respondents rated all the attributes with a score of 4 or
better. The next largest score group was 3 which indicated that the respondents
were indifferent about attributes evaluated. Between 13 to 19% consumers
liked the attributes very much, by giving a score of 5. Only a small fraction
of the respondents did not like the product (1.2-14.6%) thus they rated 1 on the
5-points Likert scale on all attributes.

Pisang Berangan

Scale-up production of Banana Paste Binder

3. Cereal and banana paste are mixed at a ratio which is optimised for
shelf life as well as flavour profile.

Source : Survey 2012

Dubai Trade Fair

Pisang Raja

Pisang Mas

A survey done in Dubai Trade Fair in 2013 drew 496 respondents from five
continents and 16 countries and 91.5% said that they could accept the product.
Around 72% strongly preferred the banana granola and a mere 5% indicated
strong dislike.
Based on this survey we can conclude that further marketing efforts for both
local and international scenes, would ensure success of the business. Usage of
tropical fruits in the form of paste such as banana, jackfruit, coconut, dates
and roselle have improved the acceptance of these products internationally.
Incorporation of these local flavours has produced granola bars with
characteristic colours, flavours, tastes, chewiness, aroma, sweetness, physical
appearance and improved overall acceptance.
Agro Jerneh Sdn. Bhd., MARDIs TechnoFund partner, has indicated their
interest in commercialising the developed products.

4. The mixture forms a continuous slab which will be cooled and

hardened for easy slicing.

Processing of Banana Paste

Pisang Udang Merah

Banana paste products and its production process were developed and
established at laboratory scale. Fully ripened bananas were used and cut
individually from their stems and bunches. The process involves steaming the
bananas, removing their skin and homogenously grinding them to produce a
very fine puree.
The puree is then cooked with other ingredients to produce banana paste.
The paste can be prepared earlier and used immediately in making the binder
or stored in a cold room for later use.

5. The bars are cut at a pre-determined size, individually packed and

ready for the market.

Sept 2014

Sept 2014

FOCUS

FOCUS

Urban Horticulture:

Technology
innovation for
urban agriculture

The way to reduce food import bill and make

our cities more livable
From front page

By: Y.M. Tengku Ab Malik Tengku Maamun

Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI

apid
u rb a n i s at io n
is a reality in many
countries and by 2050, it is
estimated that 70% of the
world population will be
living in cities.
Malaysia is not an
exception. Our rate of
urbanisation is estimated at
2.4% annually and currently,
72% of our population is
concentrated in 20 cities.
Ur b a n
a g r i c u lt u r e
is a strategy that could
complement rapid urban
migration by increasing
u rb a n fo o d s e c u r it y,
reducing urban poverty
and enhancing the urban
environment.
As the main agricultural
rese a rch i n stit ute i n Tube plot cultivation system in urban
agriculture
M a l aysi a , M A R DI i s
mandated to conduct research and develop technologies to enhance urban
horticulture practices.
The guidelines in developing technologies for urban horticulture is that it
should be a modern approach in farming with low energy, low labour and low
water requirement, user friendly and can be easily taken up even by those with
no knowledge or experience in agriculture. However, continuous education
and training is important to ensure sustainability of urban agriculture in
Malaysia.
Some of the innovations by MARDI that are suitable for sustainable urban
agriculture include Greenkit, self-watering container for selected fruit trees,
multitier hydroponic system, tube planting system, vertical farming system,
vertical walls and fertigation system.

Column Multi-level Planting System (CMPS) with salad

ocal authorities should also provide

city services such as collection of
waste from urban farms, composting
of urban waste into fertilizer and easy
access to water in order to reduce the
cost of urban farming.
Green urban development planning
should include urban horticulture friendly
policies. These policies should reflect
long term commitments such as zoning
laws that carve out niches for urban
horticulture projects and they should be
protected from redevelopment.
Grants and affordable loans would
play an important role in financially
supporting the start-up and operating
cost just to initiate projects. Later they
should be self financing.
Research and innovation is important
to make urban farms modern, low
energy and low labour requirement
while producing high quality harvest.
Increased funding for research and
development would help farmers
operate more efficiently in horticulture
production, management and business
operations.
The Malaysian urban horticulture
action plan should be an action-oriented
plan which should be reasonably
implemented within a period of five
years. The plan would identify who is
responsible for each action item.
Some of the priorities in the action
plan would be linking available land and
spaces for potential urban horticulture
projects,
strengthening
research,
innovation, education and training
and creating awareness, increasing
promotion and strategies of local
production.
As Malaysians are known to be less
interested on farming or gardening,
an important item in the action plan
would be to create awareness on the
importance of urban horticulture in
improving the community.
Studies have shown that families
with greater access to fresh produce,
consume healthier diets and have low
rates of diet-related diseases. Urban
farms or community gardens produce
healthier fruits and vegetables with low
traces of chemicals.
Participating in community gardens
could offset up to 30% of their produce
needs by eating foods from their own

gardens. For example, one could easily

grow leafy vegetables such as spinach,
kangkong and kailan in pots such as
Greenkit.
Urban horticulture has been shown
to improve community economic
wellbeing through job creation, training
and skill development and also savings
in food bill. Business opportunities can
be created when urban farms capacity
grows.
Urban farming offers a fertile ground
for green innovation. MARDI should
take the lead in coming up with up-todate technologies, prioritising projects
to give focus to new and modern forms
of urban farming such as rooftop edible
gardens, vertical edibles or green
curtains, sustainable production systems
and even computer-based indoor plant
growing.
Besides
sustainable
production
systems, MARDI should also look into
urban ecosystems which are important
for enhancing local wellbeing and
reducing the ecological footprint of
cities.
The technologies developed by
MARDI need to reach the urban farmers,
community growers and entrepreneurs
as the success of urban horticulture
programmes
would
depend
very
much on the technology know-how of
community growers and participants of
urban horticulture.
As urban farming expands, other
agencies such as FAMA would play
important roles in the marketing of
produce from urban farms
or help
successful community growers to
develop market strategies collectively
for their produce so that they could reap
profits.
The
ministry
also
encourages
participation from various relevant
ministries, agencies, city councils
and private sectors such as housing
developers, suppliers and private office
premises. Collaborations between these
relevant entities are very important to
ensure success.
The recent green requirements
outlined by Petaling Jaya City Council
such as requirement for rain water
harvesting system and Green Building
Index for new developments are
very positive towards creating public

CMPS with selected leafy vegetables

Vertical wall of herbs

awareness in creation of green cities.
Urban horticulture projects must
start off immediately. The public must
be made aware of such projects through
programmes such as electronic media,
newspapers and newsletters.
Such
publicity creates awareness, interest and
excitement.
Besides community gardens, urban
horticulture projects should be seen in
government offices, schools, universities,

hospitals and even private premises such

as offices, apartments and restaurants
serving fresh vegetables from their own
gardens.
Urban horticulture with its potential
to provide fresh and nutritious
food, healthy, safe and sustainable
environment for the affordable as well
as urban poor, is an important tool in
elevating quality of city life in pursuant
of making our cities more livable.

Urban farms
should be modern,
low energy and
low labour while
producing high
quality harvest
Vegetables planted in tube plot system

Sept 2014

Sept 2014

ACHIEVEMENT

ENVIRONMENT

High Throughput Genotyping

Services at CMDV
By: Rabiatul Adawiah Zainal Abidin,
Dr Norzihan Abdullah, Siti Zainab Jantan
Biotechnology Research Centre, MARDI

ocated at the Biotechnology Research Centre,

MARDI, Serdang, the Centre for Marker
Discovery and Validation (CMDV) was
established in August 2011 to provide rapid and costeffective genotyping services for crop, livestock and
the aquaculture industry.
To provide highest quality services, CMDV was
designed and customised with the latest genotyping
platforms supporting current molecular marker
technologies such as Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
(SNP), Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) and Amplified
Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP).
CMDV is equipped with three key genotyping
robotic platforms, namely the ABI 3730XL DNA
Analyzer, Sequenom Mass Array and Illumina iScan.
This has enabled CMDV to generate 100,000 data
points of SNP per day via the Sequenom Mass Array
and 70,000 data points of SSR per day through the ABI
3730XL.
All valuable samples received from clients are
managed and tracked by a dedicated Laboratory
Information Management System (LIMS) (Biotracker TM
4.3.) This enables CMDV personnel to track clients and

samples information, manage genotyping workflows,

organise inventories as well as create documents such
as invoices and reports.
CMDV has also developed an in-house database,
which stores genotype data, genetic and physical maps
in addition to germplasm information. This acts as a
tool to facilitate geneticists and breeders in mining
important markers, traits and genes.
CMDV has been successful in providing a wide
range of services to its clients such as:
High-throughput DNA extraction
Discovery and validation of molecular markers &
marker-trait association (SNP/SSR)
DNA fingerprinting in crops, livestock &
aquaculture (SNP/SSR/AFLP)
Varietal or accession identification, biodiversity
protection and variety infringement
Marker assisted selection (MAS) and Marker
assisted backcrossing (MABC)

Location


Contact No.
Email

: CMDV - Biotechnology
Research Centre, MARDI
Headquarters, Serdang.
: 03-89437550
: cmdv@mardi.gov.my

ising home prices is a global

phenomenon and Malaysia is
not spared. This has made it
necessary for low income urbanites to
settle in low cost housing which offers
very limited potential for any kind of
gardening or agricultural activities.
Studies show that by 2020, the urban
poor will constitute 85% of our city

population and one of the challenges

facing us is finding ways to maximise
urban agriculture within the very
limited space that is available.
An urban kit for agriculture is
one of the best solutions to the space
constraint. Urban agriculture will not
only help city folks grow their own
food and increase their income but if
properly managed, it has the potential to
improve the quality of the environment.
The Urbankit technology was
developed by MARDI to encourage
urban horticulture and designed
specifically for the urban poor to reduce

El-Nino:Source, consequences to
weather and impact on agriculture
Wet

El-Nino and
rainfall

Dry

Nov to following March

Jan. to April
July to following April

Dry

Juliy to Sept.

Wet

Dry

Jan. to
April

Oct. to following Jan.

Jan to April

Wet

Dry

Dec. to March
Nov. to following April

June to Sept.

Wet

Oct. to Dec.

June to following March

April to June

July to Dec.

June to following Jan.

June to following April

Wet

Dry

Jan to May

Dry

July to following March

Sept. to following March

Wet

Dry

Nov. to following March

June to Sept.

July to Nov.

Wet

Sept. to following Jan.

July to following Jan.

For more information on El-Nino and La-Nina, go to http://in.columbia.edu/ENSO

SNP panel technology is routinely used for

application in rice research

their food bill and increase household

income.
This kit is suitable for growing herbs
and vegetables as well as rearing fresh
water fish. Herbs and vegetables such as
mint, lettuce, spinach and watercress
have been successfully raised together
with tilapia, which was chosen due to
its high tolerance to variations in water
conditions such as pH, temperature,
oxygen and nitrates.
This integrated system successfully
generates the nutrients needed by the
plants and fish with the tilapia food
wastes and ammonia running through

a bio-filter with beneficial bacteria, such

as Nitrosomonas sp. which reduces the
ammonia into nitrites.
The nitrites are further reduced
by Nitrobacter sp. into nitrates which
are then absorbed by the vegetables
for growth and the clean water is then
recycled to the fish before continuing in
the cycle again.
This kit has proven successful as it
does not need additional fertilisation or
pesticide to encourage growth. The doit-yourself kit is cheap, easy to maintain
and takes up a very small space of 60 x
31 x 36 inches.

Bio-filter system
Herb growing section
Vegetable growing section
Fish growing system

By: Dato Dr. Mohamad Zabawi Abdul Ghani

Strategic Resources Research Centre,
MARDI

hen El-Nino strikes, Malaysians

worry about hot weather and
water supply disruption as a result
of drought. E-Nino also brings many disruptions to agriculture.
Although El-Nino is much talked about,
many still do not know the source of this
weather phenomenon and how it affects
our weather and impact our agricultural
productivity.
The answers below may give us some
awareness about El-Nino and what we can
do to mitigate its effects when it comes
along again, in the next two to seven years.

What is El-Nino?
El-Nino refers to the `abnormal extensive warming of the entire equatorial zones
of the central and eastern Pacific Oceans,
which is otherwise colder than that in the
western equatorial Pacific.
El-Nino leads to a major shift in atmospheric circulation and causes a disruption
of the ocean-atmosphere system in the
tropical Pacific.
It results in the weakening of easterly
winds and shifting in tropical rainfall from
Indonesia to South America and Pacific,
causing drought in Southeast Asian regions.
El-Nino takes place at an interval
between two and seven years and lasts for
12 to 19 months. The occurrence of El-Nino
in Malaysia has induced weather variability, which is responsible for frequent, and
rampant abnormal climate variation for the
last 20 years.
This has brought about serious implications on all economic sectors, including that
of agriculture.

El-Nino In Malaysia
Urbankit
(5 x 2.6 x 3)
11 square feet

Urbankit Bio filter and fish growing

Dry

Wet

El-Nino conditions in
the tropical Pacific
are known to shift
rainfall in many
different parts of the
world. Although they
vary somewhat from
one El-Nino to the
next, the strongest
shifts remain fairly
consistent in the
regions and seasons
shown on the map.

Urbankit : New technology for

urban horticulture
By: Mohd Johaary Abdul Hamid
Strategic Planning and Innovation
Management Division, MARDI

Construction time

2 hours

Structure quality

Strong, lightweight, portable

Maintenance

Low

Easily modifiable

Yes

Cost

RM800.00

Since 1950. there were thirteen major

El-Nino events recorded in the country. The
worst El-Nino event affecting the country
was the 1997/98 event, which began in March
1997 until June 1998. The previous major
events were the El-Nino of 1982/83 and
1990.
The overall immediate effect of all El-Nino
episodes were delays in the monsoon rains,
which resulted in unusually dry weather for
most parts of the country.
In the past few years, the prolonged
drought encouraged forest fires, and the
resultant haze or smoke remained airborne
due to too little rain to `wash it away.
Many of these fires were set up deliberately by plantations and timber companies
to clear land, a popular practice because it

is the cheapest and easiest method for land

preparation.
The practice of shifting cultivation by
small farmers, which also indulge in open
burning for land preparation, aggravates
the problem further.
The hanging haze and deterioration in
air quality is considered a more detrimental
effect of El-Nino than the accompanying
drought.

Impact on weather
parameters
Rainfall
East Malaysia was particularly affected
by previous El-Nino incidences in terms of
drier than normal rainfall due to their close
proximity to the Equator. The impact in
Peninsular Malaysia was noticeable only in
the northwestern region where seasonal
droughts are fairly common. However, in
the recent El-Nino episode the impact was
felt throughout the country.
The comparison in terms of mean
monthly rainfall and rainy days, and the
number of rainy days in a year between
`normal years and major El-Nino years is
fairly prominent. During the El-Nino episode
of 1997/98, the reduction in rainfall is fairly
significant for all regions, ranging between
5% (=100 mm in the Northwest region) to
26% (=1100 mm in Sarawak).
Similarly, the number of rainy days
showed a significant reduction for all
regions, ranging between 13 days (8%) in
central interior region to that of 51 days in
Sabah (28%). This confirms the fact that the
El-Nino episode of 1997/98 was the worst
among the other episodes.

Air Quality
El-Nino induced prolonged dry weather
has resulted in the widespread forest and
peat swamps fires in Malaysia and in Indonesia either by human deliberation or
negligence.
The forest fires gave rise to heavy haze,
which deteriorates air quality in almost all
regions due to a significant alarming increase in the Total Suspended Particulates
(TSP; increase between 1.6 to 3.5 fold). The
haze remained until blown away by winds,
or `washed down by heavy rainfall. High
level of TSP also affected daily visibility,
reduced solar radiation (44% - 83%) and
sunlight hours (40% - 63%).

Mean Daily Temperature

The overall increase in the mean daily
temperature of the `normal (based on
the 50-years data) and El-Nino years was
between 0.5 oC to 1.7 oC for all regions.

During the El-Nino period of 1997/98, the

mean daily temperature increased further
in all regions, as compared to the `normal
years. The variations in temperature for all
regions ranged from 0.4oC in central interior
to 1.1oC in the southern region.
Much greater increase in temperature
could be due to the prolonged dry weather,
coupled with the `thick haze. Temperature in layer between 700 and 600 hPa
(= height of the haze) underwent stronger
diurnal variations during the haze day as
compared to the normal day reflecting the
result of radiational heating during the day
and radiational cooling during the night in
the vicinity of haze top.

Impact on agriculture
Drought
Water is an essential factor in plant
growth. Water is needed for photosynthesis that enables plants to produce biomass
(food) from reaction between water, carbon
dioxide and sunlight.
Drought stress decreases photosynthesis
rate.
Subsequently, this condition hinders
plant growth and reduces its productivity.
Plant physiological processes are also not
able to function systematically in an insufficient water or moisture condition.
This stress phenomenon can influence
chemical (hormone) production in plants
that stimulates the process of maturity. This
process shortens the plant life. If drought
symptom is too serious and persists for a
long period of time, the whole plant growth
will be affected.
Growth of short term crops with shallow
roots such as vegetables, corn, paddy and
peanuts are easily affected by drought even
in a short period of time compared with
perennial crops such as fruit trees, cocoa,
rubber and oil palm.
The effects of drought on crops depend
on plant growth stage, stress intensity, water
shortage and duration of the condition.
In general, when drought occurs, yield
from flowering, fruiting or grain producing
plants are more affected compared to yield
from leafy plants especially during flowering
stage.
Impact of water shortage on perennial
crops for a short period of time is not very
significant as the deep root system enables
plants to get water supply from soil for
normal growth.
However, the lack of water for long
periods of time is the main factor that limits
the growth and production of fruit trees.
For example, in places affected by
drought for 2 months, growth of star fruit
is stunted and flower production is reduced.
The fruits produced were small.

Drought condition is also causes the fall

of papaya flowers. Papaya fruit structure
changes and causes an infertility phase.
Cocoa plant is a perennial crop that is
also sensitive to water shortage. However,
if the stress of water shortage that occurs is
a mild one, the plant produces more fruits.

High air temperature

Drought is closely related to high air
temperature. In a situation where the air
temperature is high due to El-Nino, drought
condition increases plant tissue temperature
or animal body temperature.
Like water, temperature also has a very
significant impact on plant growth. The main
impact of temperature on plants is towards
the relevant physiological process in the
growth or development of vegetative and
genital organs.
Reaction of perennial crops on high temperature varies from annual crops. Most of
the plants in the tropics can live at high temperature. Each plant has various minimum,
optimum and maximum temperatures for
growth.
If temperature increases beyond critical levels for a long period of time, plant
experiences photorespiration. In this situation, most of the biomass/food that was
produced through photosynthesis is reused
for respiration. Thus, the harvested biomass
or yield is reduced.
In general, lowland crops live well at
temperatures between 25 to 30 C according to the types of crop. Rise in temperature
accelerates duration of a particular growth
stage.
For paddy, high temperature condition
that happens after the grain filling stage
accelerates maturity and harvesting period.
However, when high temperature occurs
at paddy seedling production stage, it is very
likely that the number of paddy seedlings
decreases and the yield declines as well.
During 1998 El-Nino, total production of
rice throughout the country decreased more
than 5%.
Rise in air temperature also causes forest
fires especially in peat forests. During the
El-Nino phenomenon, reserve forest and
secondary forest in Selangor, Pahang and
Sarawak were caught on fire and they were
unable to be put off due to insufficient water
supply. Large and prolonged forest fires in
Kalimantan, Indonesia also added on the
adverse effects of El-Nino phenomenon in
Malaysia through the occurrence of haze.
As a natural phenomena El-Nino is
here to stay and may bring more adverse
effects in the future, therefore we need
to have more affirmative measures and
action plans.

10

Sept 2014

Sept 2014

SUCCESS STORY

SUCCESS STORY

Transforming rags to riches:

Moving the mango industry to

the next level: a case study of
Harumanis in Perlis

By: Mohamad Abd. Manas & Abu Hasan Ishak

Technology Promotion & Development Centre, MARDI

By : Dr. Mahmad Nor Jaafar

Institute of Sustainable Agrotechnology,
UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PERLIS.

Innovative management and appropriate technologies to

eradicate hardcore poverty

ZAM Tani is an innovative project started

in 2011 to increase the income of the
hardcore poor through economic assistance
projects such as crop planting, fisheries, livestock,
processing of agricultural products, agro-based
business and agriculture services.
The Federal Governments Transformation
Programme (GTP) was introduced to improve the
quality of public sector delivery to achieve vision
2020 and one of the seven National Key Result
Areas (NKRA) is to enhance the living standards
of low-income households.
Among the low-income key result area initiatives
is the AZAM Tani Project which is entrusted to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries
(MOA) as Project Champion to be implemented
across the states in Peninsular Malaysia.
AZAM is the synonym for AKHIRI ZAMAN
MISKIN (Ending the Age of Poverty).
The combination of innovative technology and
management allowed Malaysia to decrease poverty
rate from 3.8% in 2009 to 1.7% in 2012.
The AZAM Tani project implemented by MARDI
managed to increase the economic status of 54% of
1,760 participants. These participants increased
their household income by 40% or higher.
The AZAM Tani project has become one of the
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) under the MOA
scorecard since 2010. Participants of the AZAM
Tani project consist of heads and members of
hardcore poor households, single mothers, people
with disabilities, aborigines and vulnerable groups
who were former drug addicts, HIV AIDS and
ex-bandits.
T he pa r ticipants are screened for thei r
potentials in terms of their commitments, interests,
skills, suitability of the project sites and individual
capabilities to carry out the economic activities.
This project is a remarkable new responsibility of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and
Development Institute (MARDI) scientists involving
social motivation and technology utilisation by the
lowest strata of a society.
A key component of this project is implementation of the activities using appropriate technologies
suggested by MARDIs scientists based on participants capabilities.
Pa r ticipa nts a re able to choose project
activities easily and quickly according to the local
environment and therefore be able to generate
income quickly (quick return).
Working on the selected projects, participants

SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION PROJECTS

Main cluster of project
implementation
AGROTOURISM

No. of participants
4

HARDWARE 13
SEWING 86
AGRICULTURE SERVICES

211

PROCESSING AGRO-BASED
PRODUCTS 478
AGRO-BASED BUSINESS

108

FISHERIES 109
LIVESTOCKS 160
CROPS
71

Total participant : 1240

must produce results between three and six months
of implementation, provide good returns, produce
products or services that are marketable, viable
and sustainable.
Data shows that 38% of the participants
preferred choice for quick return was processing
of agro-based products. Seventeen percent preferred
agricultural services which required a small capital
while 9% preferred agro-based businesses.

Innovation appropriate technologies

Appropriate technologies used in the project
activities refer to technologies that are cheap,
easy to learn, suitable for target groups, labour
intensive, suitable for small scale production,
environmentally friendly and easy to handle and
maintain.
The result shows that 54% of the participants
successfu l ly i ncreased t hei r i ncomes. T he
remaining participants required more training

and motivation to improve their potential.

Implementations of technology innovation
and management showed that the percentage of
poverty decreased from 3.8% in 2009 to 1.7% in 2012.
Statistics show that 75% achieved an income above
the poverty level in 2013.
Lessons learnt in implementing Azam Tani had
proven to be beneficial to the target groups and can
serve as a model for the civil service.
The commitment of participants had been proven
to be one of the most important factors contributing
to the success of the economic activities of the
project.
Different approaches adopted by MARDI and
determined by the participants, development of a
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the project
by members of a committed task force, infrastructure cost savings and the use of mature planting
materials have been effective in determining the
success of the project.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

Cheap

Easy to
learn

11

Suitable for
target group

Suitable for
small scale

Easy to handle
& maintain

arumanis Mango is an iconic

agriculture product from Perlis,
commanding strong demand
and high prices. Now it is time for the
industry to embrace new products and
adopt better strategies to take it to the
next level.
Although Harumanis is well known
internationally, Malaysia remains a
net importer of this desirable tropical
fruit, in fact we are consistently among
the worlds top importer of mangoes,
bringing in around 25,000-40,000 tonnes
annually since the last decade.
Growing Harumanis mango is the
obvious choice for smallholder farmers
in Perlis as demand and prices continue
to soar. In the past couple of years, the
demand for Harumanis has far exceeded
supply, causing a mango crisis with an
exponentially soaring price tag. Going
from RM2.50/kg to RM25/kg in just
about 10 years, it has not seem to reach
the plateau yet.
The short season and inability to
meet demand is not by design, rather
the result of a clash between the
states success in creating demand and
commercial mango productions failure
to acquire new methods and technology.
Unfortunately, the learning curve
of commercial mango production has
languished into a technology trap and
fell prey to a paradigm paralysis, largely
due to inconsistent policy direction and
an inadequate follow-through with
relevant research and development
support.
The current mango industry in
Perlis cannot fulfill the demand, and it
lacks the institutional capacity to move
the industry in sync with other major
developments.
In general, the mango industry
thrives on small farms characterised
with lack of infrastructure, sub-standard
technology adoption, low productivity,
and inconsistent quality.
This is clearly problematic in terms
of meeting the challenges of the new
economy, which is a knowledge-innovation driven economy. The industry needs
a transformational change to move to the
next competitive level. Farming has to
be less risky, more sophisticated, more

Harumanis production under green house

rewarding and more attractive to the
younger generation.

Development of sustainable
technology
The food and financial (the double
FF) crisis of 2008 had been an eye opener.
Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP),
which is an engineering-centric
academia, has made a bold and decisive
move to activate the third mission of
enhancing the socio-economic standing
of local communities by venturing
into engineering-centric agriculture
extension.
UniMAP is opening up a dedicated
research station in its northern
campus at Sg. Chuchuh. Extending the
harvesting season and improving the
fruit quality were the initial mandates
to upgrade the Harumanis industry.
UniMAP has mobilised a foray of
researchers of intra- and trans-disciplines to negotiate with nature, control
micro-climate, alter agronomic practices,
enhance post-harvest handling, and
whisper with the science of connectivity.
The packaged technology of Mango on
Demand, dubbed as 7 in 1 Technology
has been made available for knowledge
and profit sharing.
To put it simply, it is the production
of mangoes in tropical greenhouses.

Greenhouse, or synonymously known

as Controlled Environment Agriculture
Production System (CEAPS), minimises
risk, increases efficiency, gives higher
yield, augments fruit quality, enables
market-demand production, enhances
better labour distribution, and
consequently, making mango production
a more viable option.
However, CEAPS requires heavy
long-term investment or patient capital,
as well as skillful (tech-savvy) farmers
who should be trained adequately. Our
initial proof of concept of Mango on
Demand jives well into the euphoria of
change vibrating the state of Perlis to be
Perlis MAJU 2015. However, making
it move is a bigger challenge, and would
only happen with a good strategic plan.

Accelerating technology
adoption
Beginning with the inception of the
idea in 2008 to the proof of concept in
experimental field in 2012, it has been
seen that the feasibility of producing
mangoes on demand is optimistically
promising.
A major milestone was achieved
when Tuanku Raja Perlis took up this
innovation and became the techie (the
early adopter) of the technology by trying

it on a half-acre model farm, complete

with a small modern mango farm infrastructure.
However, moving it across the
industry would call for a more strategic
approach. A new modus operandi is the
application of the triple helix innovation
model of Academia Government
Industry (AGI) collaboration.
In this collaboration, the university
blue print must be adjusted for
application by the industry while
meeting the governments regulations
and aspiration.
Fortunately, the approach has
the support of the Northern Corridor
I mplementi ng A gency ( NCI A)
representing the Government, JPB Asia
Pacific Sdn Bhd, and industry players to
take on this technology to the next level.
For this case, the University provides
the premises, the continuous technology
back-up, and the intellectual capital. The
NCIA ploughs in the investment fund,
development guidelines and regulations,
while the JPB engages in the production
process, including marketing and
retraining of workers.
By the end of the year, there will be
50 half-acre greenhouses for premium
quality mango production.

12

Sept 2014

EVENTS

Malaysia successfully hosts inaugural

CORRA-GRiSP workshop

Setting the directions for global rice research - CORRA-GRiSP workshop 2014

he inaugural CORRA-GRiSP
workshop was held on May
6-7, 2014, with the objective of
creating a systematic inventory for
national rice growing strategies of
countries in Asia.
Jointly organised by the Council
for Partnership on Rice Research in
Asia (CORRA) and Global Rice Science
Partnership (GRiSP), it was attended

by 40 representatives from CORRA

member countries
As a permanent member of
CORRA, MARDI was represented by
the Director General, Dato Dr. Sharif
Haron. The Strategic Planning &
Innovation Management Department
together with the Corporate International Communication and Quality
Department acted as secretariat.

Expected out puts from t he

workshop will guide the activities
of CORRA and GRiSP, particularly
in setting the directions and the
allocation of resources in support of
global rice research.
The programme agenda included
one and a half days of meeting
followed by a visit to MARDI. Dr.
Azizan Ab. Rashid, MARDI Deputy

Director General of Research received

the delegation at the institute.
Dr. Norzihan of CMDV briefed the
delegation on the background and
research activities of CMDV, and then
the group went on a tour of MARDI
gallery. As a finale, the delegation was
served with a special treat of Durian
Udang Merah, a unique variety of the
king of fruits.

ASEAN Seed Council

Development Meeting

alaysia successfully hosted

the ASEAN Seed Council
Development Meeting for
the first time on June 24-26, 2014 in
Putrajaya.
MARDI, which was represented
by the Planting Materials, Seeds and
Livestock Breeds Production Unit
(UBB) and the Corporate International Communications and Quality
Department was given the honour as
secretariat.
The meeting was attended by
several ASEAN countries such as
Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand and
Malaysia.
Head of UBB, Dr. Mohammad
Selamat b. Madom represented the
country while Deputy Director
General, MARDI (Technology Commercialisation and Transfer), Dr.
Umi Kalsum Abu Bakar chaired the
meeting.
The main objective of the meeting
was to discuss and collect responses
and inputs from all ASEAN countries
as a step towards the establishment of
the ASEAN Seed Council (ASC).
The 35 th Asean Ministers on
Agriculture and Forestry meeting held
on Sep 23-29, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur had
decided that Malaysia should spearhead
the establishment of the ASC to ensure
that all seed produced and traded
for the purposes of food production
within ASEAN should achieve a high
level of quality. The ASC is meant to
be an information sharing platform
and facilitate technical and economic
cooperation among seed producers and
industry leaders.
It should also facilitate the harmonisation of rules and regulations
governing the industry, encourage
research and development of seed

technologies and provide experts

in organisational development and
management of ASC from the ASEAN
member countries which are on the
forefront of the industry.
The programme agenda included
two days of meeting followed by a one
day visit to Sin Seng Huat Sdn Bhd in
Puchong, a leader in seed production
in Malaysia.
The company produces and
distributes high quality vegetable
seeds, agrochemicals and organic
fetilisers, among other products.
The delegation was also taken on
a tour of CMDV MARDI and MARDI
Gallery. Dr. Norzihan Abdullah, who
manages CMDV, briefed the delegates
on their activities.
Proposal for the ASC will be
presented at the 36th ASEAN Ministers
of Agriculture and Forestry meeting
which will be held in Myanmar on Sept
25, 2014.

Delegations visit Sin Seng Huat Sdn. Bhd., a leader in seed production in
Malaysia

Participants at the ASEAN Seed Council Development Meeting , June 2014, Putrajaya