The Department of Agriculture (DOA) Sarawak is applying innovative methods such as fertigation, rain-shelter cultivation, and post-harvest treatment using Generally-Regarded-As-Safe (GRAS) salts to improve crop cultivation and extend the shelf life of fruits.
Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Stephen Rundi Utom said that the department has developed a protocol for growing Terung Asam Sarawak using fertigation technology within rain shelters.
Additionally, he noted that the DOA is at the forefront of producing vacuum freeze-dried chips from various produce.
In an effort to address black-rot in pineapples, the DOA has also fine-tuned a post-harvest treatment with GRAS salts, significantly enhancing the fruit’s shelf life.
“Both techniques, that were recently accredited with the MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017 are to determine pesticide residues using the Liquid Chromatography Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (LC-MSMS); and to analyse nutrient content using the Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectrometry (NIRS) in crop produces” said Dr Rundi during his ministerial winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting yesterday (Nov 28).
Further, Dr. Rundi mentioned the ministry’s plans to engage in collaborative and participatory research activities to bolster its research and development capabilities.
The ministry is currently involved in several collaborative research projects, including developing a robust deep learning model for local rice disease recognition with UNIMAS, sequencing the dabai genome with DUKE-NUS and the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre, and studying the properties of a novel urea-formaldehyde-encapsulated hydrogel-biochar with UiTM Sarawak Branch and other agencies.
Additionally, Dr. Rundi disclosed ongoing participatory research activities involving the study of strawberries, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes with farmers in Bario, and a diversity study on Durian Kuning with a community in Limbang.
