Since its inception in 1993, CRAUN Research Sdn Bhd (CRAUN) has been instrumental in research and development (R&D) activities on Sarawak’s sago industry.
With the vision of advancing the industry “through effective research and innovation”, it intends to achieve this by generating effective and appropriate technologies, know-how and expertise so as to ensure its sustainability and maintain its global competitiveness.
The R&D organisation is currently led by its chief executive officer Tuan Haji Zaidell bin Haji Hussaini, who explains in an interview with RAKAN Sarawak that sago is the third most important agricultural commodity in Sarawak, with an export value of RM107.72 million compared to oil palm (RM19.15 billion) and pepper (RM169.46 million) in 2022.
He adds that the sago industry in the State is also dominated by smallholder farmers. As of 2022, nearly 97 per cent or 31,763 hectares of sago cultivation areas are developed by these farmers, primarily in Mukah and Betong Divisions.
Yet cultivating sago palms at a large scale to meet the increasing global demand for sago starch poses numerous challenges, given that one plant usually takes 10 to 12 years to reach its mature size, and harvesting them involves cutting them into pieces or logs (unlike oil palm and pepper, which generally require collecting their fruits).
These include low productivity and value chain; lack of basic plantation infrastructure; laborious post-harvest activities; an ageing workforce; low and inconsistent pricing of sago logs; as well as as potential environmental damage caused by untreated and abandoned sago waste.
To tackle them, CRAUN has been undertaking R&D programmes that focus on developing technologies and methodologies that can boost crop and processing productivity and increase the sago value chain, especially in the upstream and downstream areas of the industry.
These programmes are in line with one of the organisation’s functions of upscaling its findings and technologies resulting from research activities to ascertain whether said activities are viable for commercialisation.
A project that, from CRAUN’s point-of-view, aligns with Sarawak’s aspirations under Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 is the wastewater treatment pilot plant at Kampung Tabo, Mukah.
The pilot plant demonstrates an integrated approach in the recovery, treatment and utilisation of sago milling wastes as a means of conserving the environment and promoting a sustainable circular economy by converting waste into wealth for industry players.
CRAUN is also in the midst of connecting gas pipes from the plant to 147 residential and public properties at Kampung Tabo and Kampung Teh as part of a pilot project to generate biogas from sago waste, which would then be refined and distributed as cooking gas.
Communities of these participating villages are supportive of the initiative, states Tuan Haji Zaidell. In fact, community engagement – alongside strategic collaborations with other local and international research institutes – are extremely important for the R&D organisation to be able to transform sago into an industrial commodity.
“We are in the midst of promoting the technologies and methodologies that we are developing with the community and the industry.
“What we want to do is we want to consolidate all the smallholders and ultimately increase their income, as well as to intensify the usage of the product from the sago starch, be it at the community or industry level. That is the impact we hope to see,” he elaborates.
Functions of CRAUN Research Sdn Bhd
- To conduct scientific, technical and economic research with respect to the production, utilisation and processing of sago and other crops as required
- To serve as a technology acquisition centre for the collection and dissemination of information and advice on scientific, technical and economic matters concerning sago industry
- To serve as a one-stop resource centre in sago technology
- To maintain liaison with other organisations both public and private, local and foreign which are engaged in scientific, technical and economic research on sago and sago starch industry
- To upscale its findings and technologies generated from the research activities
Source: CRAUN Research Sdn Bhd
