Cabbage, which is a staple vegetable for all Malaysians in predominantly a temperate climate plant, needs plenty of sunshine and a cool temperature. That’s why its most suitable cultivation land is in Cameron Highlands, Ranau, and Lojing, but Mardi under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries has made a breakthrough in cultivating the high-yielding vegetable in lowlands. Something unheard of in the past in Malaysia.
The agency will use technology to increase yield and at the same time save labour costs, to encourage farmers this new way of cultivation the Ministry launched a special package in with the program. Datuk Seri Dr. Ronald Kiandee, Minister of Agriculture and Industry Food said mechanisation technology is very helpful towards increasing production, income, and living standards of farmers as well as safeguarding food security in the agricultural sector.
Currently, the cultivation of round cabbage in Malaysia is mostly located in temperate areas and highlands because the ambient temperature is very suitable for this plant. With rising demand and scarcity of land in highlands, production of round cabbage has begun to be implemented in the lowlands to accommodate domestic demand.
The use of flat land for the cultivation of cabbage allows mechanization to be implemented in a wider area. The program offered consists of seed seeding machine, an assembly machine for plastic mulch, a cabbage planting machine, an arm spraying machine, pesticide, and fertiliser spraying drone, and cabbage harvesting machines.
According to Dr. Ronald, the farm mechanization package for lowland cabbage production will be able to increase the country’s cabbage production given the manual labour and high operation costs given the breadth of land that needs to be cultivated. He also added that the heat-resistant’ varieties allow the round cabbage to be grown in low ground areas with high temperature, further guaranteeing local supply as well as reducing import dependence
MARDI is set to commercialise this mechanisation package and also provide technical assistance to any interested operators in view of the crop having high potential and lucrative yield returns.
Previously, MARDI has also developed the technology of growing cauliflower in lowland which was launched by the Minister in October, 2020.
The lowland flowering cabbage production technology shortens the period it can be harvested in one to two weeks in addition to reducing the risk of diseases in the plants. The harvest maturity period for cabbage is between 80 to 85 days after planting.
