THE Department of Agriculture (DOA) Sarawak has been tasked to conduct agricultural research, development and innovation (RD&I) activities suitable to the various agro-ecological zones.
Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said DOA is aggressively promoting precision farming and the use of internet of things (IoT) technologies in the production of high value crops for better returns.
In addition, the department continues to enhance the capacity and capability for research and development on the post-harvest and product development activities.
“Some of the recent outputs include freeze dried rambutan, durian, jackfruit, dabai, pandan coconut and longan crystal.
“To enhance food safety and quality, the adoption of the latest technology to analyse the nutritional values in the crops produced is also given special emphasis and among others is the use of Near-Infra Red Spectrometry,” he said.
Dr Rundi said this when winding up the debates on his ministry at the DUN Sitting, yesterday (May 23).
He added the DOA would continue to conduct pest surveillance throughout Sarawak using a digital platform named Weed, Insect, Micro-organism Collection Sarawak (WIMICS).
“This digital platform is of great help in curbing the spread of pests and
diseases affecting the agrofood production.”
He said the federal government had allocated RM10 million under the 12th Malaysian Plan (12MP) for the procurement of various laboratory equipment, reagents and consumables, which will greatly enhance the department’s RD&I capability.
