Agrotech is the next big thing in farming, while in the past the industry is seen as outdated or not for the younger more tech savvy generation, today many European and Japanese entrepreneurs are venturing into this field looking to transform it with innovation.
Over in Malaysia, similar initiatives are being taken by the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry (MAFI) via its agency MARDI to get paddy farmers adopt new technology in managing the country’s staple. As its known, Malaysia is not self sufficient on the commodity, we continue to import despite being one of the most vibrant rice producers in the past. But the interest is about to return among growers as global trend points to establishing a secure food source and adoption of modern innovation that is making farming woke once again. This is where MARDI’s role takes centerstage, the agency recently infused new ways of paddy farming with the development of the MyPadiManager mobile app, which has already helped 200 farmers to manage paddy cultivation in a more efficient and systematic manner.
Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee pointed out that new application can provide an overview of the performance of the paddy cultivation, help farmers to set targets for the next planting season and lists planting activities as well as send notifications to the farmers regarding their crops.
“This application can increase the compliance rate of paddy cultivation activities according to best practices for each paddy variety planted,” he added.
With every industry seeking to transform digitally, the agriculture field is ripe for a massive overhaul, technology is being used in advance level globally for higher yield, better crops and now automation is finding its way into the industry. The Minister has rightly said that our agriculture farmers needed to be more aggressive to gain more knowledge in digital agricultural technology, noting that 70 per cent of food production is highly dependent on modern technological innovations.
