KUCHING: The State Agriculture Department launched its Agrosoils Soil Information Delivery (ASID) and Weed, Insects, Microorganism Collection Sarawak (WIMICS) systems during the appreciation do at Imperial Hotel here on Monday (Dec 21).
The launching ceremony was officiated by Assistant Agriculture Modernisation, Native Land and Regional Development Minister Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn, who represented minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also Deputy Chief Minister.
According to State Agriculture Department director Dr Alvin Chai Lian Kuet, this was in line with the State Civil Service’s efforts to address performance and service delivery through the development, review and improvement of existing processes and to instill a creative and innovative mindset.
ASID was developed to ensure efficient delivery of soil information to stakeholders for better planning of agriculture development projects.
The system can be accessed via mobile phones as well as other devices and the app can be downloaded from Google Play.
Also in line with the initiatives of the State Civil Service, the department had developed a number of digital and online systems.
Regarding WIMICS, Chai said: “The system facilitates self-diagnostic and the control of pest and crop diseases.
“I am glad to inform that we are now able to access the system through mobile apps in order to benefit our officers and all other users of the system.”
“To date, the system contains 152 published records consisting of 59 microorganisms, 71 insects and 22 weeds records, with 493 users recorded. The department is planning to conduct training for our officers in order to promote extensive usage of this system,” he added.
Another, the Sarawak Agricultural Institute Integrated Information System (SMBIPS), was developed in 2017 to improve the department’s administrative efficiency and designed with modules for a more efficient administration of student affairs.
“This enables our officers and AI students to go online for matters such as registration, assignments, evaluations and examination information.”
Meanwhile, Sagah said it was good that the department had begun adopting information and communication technology (ICT) for the purpose of data collection, storing and monitoring.
“The implementation of systems like WIMICS and ASID is invaluable to operations and allows for better accessibility to information via mobile phones and other devices that would otherwise be remote and difficult to access.”
He hoped that this kind of digital initiatives would be showcased in the department’s Key Focus Activities (KFA) and Creative & Innovative Group (KIK).
“(But) more importantly, I want the department to win those competitions, and wins like these encourage more participation in this kind of activities in the future in order for the department to continue improving work processes and delivering quality services to stakeholders, especially farmers.
“Apart from that, social media can also be used to disseminate information about the activities of the department. However, it can backfire adversely and the information can be misused if not handled properly.
“Thus, I advise the department to set up a special team to filter and scrutinise all information for better content security, management and handling,” Sagah said.
