BATU KAWAN: The northern region of Malaysia has always been traditionally considered as the ‘rice bowl’ of the country, and plays an important role in contributing to the food security agenda.
The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) has identified Agriculture & Bio-industry as one of its three priority sectors – the other two being Manufacturing and Services - that forms the backbone of the region’s success.
To continue advancing NCER as the nation’s premier food zone, NCIA facilitated Netherlands-based seed and plant breeding company, Enza Zaden Asia Sdn. Bhd. to establish its research and development (R&D) facility in Sauk, Perak; and incorporate its regional headquarters and logistics hub at the Koridor Utara Biotech Centre (BTC) in Bukit Minyak, Penang.
Perak state exco and Rural Development, Agriculture, Plantation, Information and Human Capital Development committee chairman, Datuk Saarani Mohamad graced the inauguration ceremony of the R&D centre, while Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) special advisor to the prime minister, Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman launched the headquarters and logistics hub.
Among the representatives present at the event were Ambassador of the Netherlands to Malaysia, Karin Mössenlechner; NCIA chief executive, Datuk Redza Rafiq; Enza Zaden managing director, Jaap Mazereeuw; and member of the supervisory board, Piet Mazereeuw; as well as executive representatives and government officials.
NCIA will be working closely with Enza Zaden to embark on modern agricultural practices in improving high-yielding varieties of agricultural crops.
This initiative is in line with NCIA’s second strategic thrust, ‘Re-engineering Growth and Productivity in Priority Sectors’ to scale the agriculture industry in NCER up the value chain via the introduction of innovative business models to modernise farming.
Enza Zaden’s state-of-the-art R&D centre is set to comprise a pathology research lab with diagnostics applications designed with sustainability features. The company’s presence in the northern region will further broaden the spectrum of the seed industry in Malaysia and the Asean region as a whole.
“The presence of the Enza Zaden headquarters and logistics facilities in NCER will certainly serve to strengthen the industry’s requirement to support new agriculture activities in the region and Malaysia as a whole,” said Zainal.
This is the transformation that NCIA endeavours to inculcate in the NCER. Since the year 2014, NCIA has been successful in promoting the transformation of modern agriculture through the Shared Value Concept (SVC) programme, which is also a great potential programme to engage Enza Zaden in developing “agropreneurs” and low-land vegetable farming in Malaysia.
This approach is being undertaken to ensure the productivity and quality of local agriculture production is improved, and to encourage farmers and entrepreneurs to embrace modern technologies into their daily farming practices.
Enza Zaden has expertise in over 30 vegetable species and more than 1,000 varieties. The knowledge transfer from Enza Zaden to local farmers and entrepreneurs will be essential as it will provide knowledge about what is the latest in the market and to get first-hand experience in identifying local traits that they are looking for in the crops.
According to Redza, “The new R&D centre will provide a stronger footprint in the country, and research and plant breeding activities will be boosted especially in local crops which hold a huge potential for the country.”
Enza Zaden will also share their knowledge and expertise to local farmers and entrepreneurs, which will help to increase their vegetable production and eventually bring their living standards to greater heights.
On average, by working closely with the company, a trained farmer can easily earn more than RM14,000 in additional profit with seed production.
“Via NCIA’s newly structured agricultural strategies, we are aiming to embrace modern agricultural practices, which translates the national objectives of including technology and innovation in the agricultural sector,” said Saarani.
An improved food security for the people can be achieved by innovating traditional business models for agriculture, as well as by adopting modern practices, to enhance agriculture outputs and productivity.
Modern agricultural techniques developed by Enza Zaden’s R&D and innovation will certainly increase agricultural productivity through highly efficient farms, better quality yields and improved seed quality.