PENANG, 22 August 2020 – A team from the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Biological Sciences (SBS) led by Dr. Chew Bee Lynn and Professor Dr. Sreeramanan Subramaniam obtained a grant amounting to RM219,000 from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Prime Minister’s Department entitled ‘Tissue Culture Propagation of Fig and the Establishment of A Model for Automated Commercial Planting in Malaysia.’

The 3-year project (September 2020 – August 2023) aims to expand the research on fig tissue culture for a variety of cultivars that were identified to be suitable for commercial cultivation in Malaysia.

This involves cultivars such as Japanese BTM6, Golden Orphan and Masui Dauphine that were previously cultivated abroad and have been identified as high quality and in demand for commercial cultivation.

The project will also involve the incorporation of computerised and automated IoT (Internet of Things) system in greenhouses as a modern approach towards Precision Farming.

This includes provision of monitoring software, installation of sensors and optimisation of planting conditions for the production of high-quality fruits suitable for marketing to supermarkets and processed food including the Sunnah-based industry.

The outcome of the project will be a model for commercial cultivation of figs and other Superfruits in Malaysia.

This project allows the expansion of the previous in-vitro propagation research work on the Superfruit project by USM.

Chew and Sreeramanan has been actively researching on tissue culture of figs for commercialisation in Malaysia and has developed methods for efficient propagation of high-quality plant stocks suitable for farm establishments.

Chew said, “The cultivation of new fruit crops such as figs is still new in Malaysia and we hope that this opens up a new avenue for research and commercialisation opportunities in the region.”

“We are now looking to further expand the project to include the incorporation of IoT in the cultivation of Superfruits particularly figs which allows us to modernise the way we farm our food produce.

“I hope this creates great opportunities and encourages young growers to venture into the field of agriculture,” added Chew.

Source & Photo: Dr. Chew Bee Lynn/Editing: Tan Ewe Hoe