During the 8th Malaysia Plan (8MP), the Department of
Agriculture (DOA) Sarawak implemented many upgrading processes regarding its
agriculture research facilities. The types
of upgrades that were carried out by the DOA are as follows:
Laboratory
equipment and facilities
- More than RM
3,000,000 was spent towards acquiring new and modern laboratory equipment and
instruments such as microscopes and a –85oC freezer for the Research Division’s
laboratories over the last 5 years.
Post harvest
facilities
- In the last 4 years, more than RM 500,000 was spent on upgrading the
post harvest buildings and facilities as well as carrying out post harvest
studies.
Infrastructure facilities and farming improvement
- The upgrading of
the infrastructure facilities included the construction of permanent rain
shelters (buildings with transparent houses), plant houses and vegetable net
houses. The irrigation and drainage system and the existing access road system
to the Research Division’s various experimental stations were also improved
upon. All in all, a total of more than RM 3,000,000 was spent.
Plant and
farm machinery
- The acquisition
of new plant and farm machinery amounted towards a total of approximately RM
1,000,000. This ranged from farm tractors, excavators, power tillers and brush
tillers.
The purpose of upgrading these facilities was to enhance the
Research Division’s research and development (R & D) programme. It also was
a means of improving the quality of the harvested produce and making them more
marketable, not to mention improving the productivity and produce quality of
planting material through breeding (a combination of conventional and
biotechnological agriculture) and the biotechnological programme (the
cultivation of tissue culture).
The upgrading process was implemented based on the yearly funds that
were allocated from either the state or federal government. Purchases through
open quotations or other government agencies i.e. JKR were also part of this
process. Notably, the DOA achieved more than 90% of its upgrading process goals
during the 8MP.The timeline for all these upgrading processes depended on the
funds that were available and the implementing agency. However, it is important
to remember that such upgrades are continual processes and will be carried through into the 9th
Malaysia Plan (9MP).
In relation towards agricultural research within Sarawak, this
upgrading has led to the transfer of technology (TOT) and a vast growth within
DOA’s R & D resources. There now exists a generation of new and
modern technology for farmers to use. Herein lies a strong support base for the
crop industry and improving the commercial production of produce. The benefits
from this upgrading have resulted in reducing production costs, ensuring that
the agricultural resources are not wasted and that the labour input is more
effective.
A prominent example that reflects an extremely positive outcome from
upgrading the agriculture research facilities is the DOA’s analytical services
laboratory. It was the first agricultural laboratory in the Malaysian
government sector to receive national and international accreditation and
recognition. In 1999, the laboratory was granted the ISO G25 accreditation for
a 2-year period. This was followed by the ISO 17025 accreditation in 2002.
Another benefit is seen in the improvement of quality through good
agricultural practices (GAP). With GAP, the newly upgraded and packaged
technology will produce high yielding crops through the usage of high yield
varieties. In turn, this will create a consistency towards the production
amount of crops, resulting in produce that is free from pesticide residue , has
a high nutritive value and longer shelf life. Aesthetic value also comes into
play, as the produce will be aesthetically pleasing and uniformed. Overall, the
DOA’s main focus in relation to this upgrading is to ensure that an increase in
the earnings for Sarawakian farmers in a sustainable manner without destroying
the environment.
Suffice to say, the upgrading of the DOA’s agriculture research
facilities have proven to be a great success in terms of expanding its scope
within the field of agricultural research and hopefully this will continue in
the 9MP.
Acknowledgement and thanks to Mr. Lai Kui Fong, Senior Assistant
Director (Research) of the Department of Agriculture Sarawak
