MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: New Straits Times

These latest technologies, lumped under the term "precision agriculture", are being used by Golden Hope Plantation and United Plantations to detect land nutrient contents and save costs on agricultural inputs like fertilisers.

The Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (Macres) said it received calls from Felda and around 20 oil palm companies recently enquiring about precision agriculture and how they can use assorted high-technology hardware such as the Geographic Information System, Global Positioning System and sensor technology to bump up their yields.

Dr Laili Nordin, head of Macres' image processing and application division, said yesterday that the companies were "very enthusiastic" about the technologies and made many enquiries about their applications.

"They wanted to use remote sensing to map out their plantations and identify which areas were affected by disease.

"They also wanted to differentiate areas with low and high yields, and relate them to soil sampling," he said on the sidelines of the two-day Asian Conference on Precision Agriculture in Kuala Lumpur.

He added that the companies said they would like to save cost on the sampling and analysis work done by using precision agriculture applications like spectro-metre technology.

"With this technology, we can basically determine the nutrient level on their plots, monitor land use and make recommendations on precisely, how much fertiliser is needed.

"With the data obtained, the companies will also be able to do pest control."

Macres is already encouraged by the successful implementation of precision agriculture pilot projects involving padi. Rice cultivation projects in Tanjung Karang, Selangor, have shown significant increases in crop yields using these methods.

At a press briefing after the opening ceremony for the conference, Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha said that more plantation companies could come forward to take advantage of precision agriculture technology.

"We need more from the private sector to come and contribute to the field of precision agriculture, which has been practised for a long time in develop countries like the US. It will obviously be useful to companies, and it enhances production and improves farming methods," he said.