KOTA SAMARAHAN: The objective is to gradually revolutionise agriculture in Sarawak by utilising modern technologies such as information technology (IT) and drone technology.
It is envisioned that unmanned aircraft (drones) would fly over fields to monitor crop growth and transmit data to the “cloud” to analyse the use of pesticides and fertilisers.
This method lowers costs and minimises impact on the environment as the farmers only need to connect to the cloud using their smartphones.
In a move to make all of the above achievable, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak Branch’s representatives led by the Rector Professor Datuk Dr Jamil Hamali visited Taiwan last month specifically to meet Joss Su, the president of a leading drone company.
They discussed the possibility of collaborating on the use of drones for smart farming.
The suggestion was for the drone company to customise a design inspection system to suit local farmers at the industrial level.
Su’s company will also link UiTM with a fertiliser manufacturer in Taiwan.
Through the collaboration, UiTM Sarawak will pioneer the introduction of drones that are capable of applying pesticides and fertilizers in the field.
Following discussions, the parties involved expect to seal their collaboration with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) in the near future.
UiTM Sarawak will also provide international training courses for the drone pilots.
Through all these, it is hoped that UiTM Sarawak would be the first drone training university to be accredited by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of (AOPA) in the country.
