In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown one-year anniversary, we realise the importance of securing global, regional and especially the local food supply chain.
We saw bountiful of local produce go to waste due to initial bans on transportation and lack of logistical coordination. Such scenarios encourage urban farming, not only to reduce carbon footprint from farm to table but also ensure self-sufficiency in cities.
Many households have ventured into aquaponic and small-scale farming of herbs and vegetables while working from home. Such practices should continue while the society and economy are recovering via the vaccination programme for herd immunity.
The concept of organic urban farming without the use of agrochemicals is well suited to modern society with high-quality and safe produce that are environmentally friendly. Organic farming emphasises integrated management and zero-waste to ensure environmental sustainability, in line with a circular economy to mitigate climate change.
For example, biomass from agrowaste can be used to generate green energy. Biochar from rice straws can be used to remediate soil health. Probiotic enzymes from pineapples reduce antibiotics for chicken farming that provides organic fertilisers for the adjacent pineapple plantation.
Rearing of black soldier flies can help with composting agrowaste into biofertiliser while providing insect protein from larvae for animal feeds. An apiary of stingless bees not only produces honey for additional income and supply natural pollinator to increase crop yields, but also attracts natural enemies of pests.
Livestock care, crop yield and soil health are regarded as ecologically interrelated. Hence, poultry farming, multiple cropping and agroecology with animals, crops and soil are treated as a single system. This is akin to biodynamic agriculture with the use of manure and compost instead of chemical fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides.
Other alternatives include biopesticides from natural products such as neem. Demand for organic produce is also increasing the world over with a global market value of RM160 million in 2017 and RM10 million in Malaysia with over 70 per cent imported. Much organic produce is needed to cater for the local demand.
In Malaysia, organic farming has been on the rise. Since the introduction of SOM certification (Skim Organik Malaysia) in 2003 and later rebranded to myOrganic in 2015, there are now 253 farms with over 2,200ha up to last year.
This includes the 0.8ha farm at Universiti Putra Malaysia to promote formal education and training of organic farming. The first local organic cocoa farm certified in January last year is located in Kunak, Sabah.
The myOrganic certification not only comprises agriculture but also apiculture, plant breeding and wild harvest. Certification Alliance (CertAll) IFOAM accreditation is needed in addition to myOrganic certification for export to Australia, Canada, the EU, Asean and certain Middle Eastern countries.
The self-sufficiency levels in Malaysia will need to be boosted based on the 2018 and 2019 statistics of two per cent import increase with 7.6 per cent export decrease in fruits and vegetables. Hence, the promotion of organic farming for fruits and vegetables will also contribute to the targets of the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) that focuses on food security.
The current bottleneck is the lower productivity of organic farms and higher production costs due to it being labour-intensive and inefficient farm management. Hence, better training programmes and incentives need to be made available and accessible to rural farmers.
Others like awareness campaigns on the benefits of organic farming can be introduced to encourage greater uptake among subsistence farmers. With more supply, the pricing of organic produce can be more affordable based on fair trade which in turn increases public acceptance.
School and university projects on organic farming can also educate the next generation of future farmers while cultivating values on sustainable food production towards achieving food security in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The writer is an Associate Professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia leading the Plant Functional Genomics Research Group
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times