IRGA Sdn Bhd has entered into an agreement with the University of Southampton Malaysa (UoSM) to engage in a collaborative research project.
Outlined by the effort to develop cutting edge technologies which support the agricultural sector to achieve greater levels of productivity and sustainability, IRGA has engaged UoSM to develop technologies which leverage on artificial intelligence and machine vision.
IRGA is an Agriculture Technology enabler that provides estate owners, farmers and landowners with integrated digital software, innovative hardware, biological solutions and data analytics for better decision-making and enhanced efficiencies. The idea behind the business’ name is conceptualised based on the brand’s ethos of holistically examining and restructuring agriculture, and looking at growth from a technology perspective. It is this thinking that forms the “IRGA” name, which is “AGRI” spelt in reverse and the tagline “agri. recoded.” IRGA has several breakthrough technologies being rolled out in in-field plantations and for farms.
The technologies in question are intended to be utilised in IRGA’s hardware and software development initiatives. More specifically, it will be utilised as a method of computer-based object detection in order to determine the ripeness of palm oil fruits intended for harvesting.
The company believes the technology will allow oil palm plantation operators to more quickly and accurately detect palm oil fruits which are ready for harvesting, boosting overall operational efficiency and increasing daily harvesting productivity.
A member of the Russel Group in the UK, the University of Southampton is ranked #81 in the QS World University Ranking and its annual enterprise portfolio has a value of £30 million.
The MoA, which is a two-year agreement between the University and IRGA, was signed on the 12th of January 2024. The signing coincided with an Industry Leadership Forum which was organised by the University to foster collaboration and thought leadership initiatives between members of academia and industry professionals.
The University of Southampton is one of the top research-based universities in the UK and as a member of the Russel Group, is ranked as #81 in the world. University of Southampton has 7 international campuses, one of which is located in Malaysia. Since the opening of the Malaysian campus in 2012, the university has expanded its undergraduate programme offerings considerably to include Business, Computer Science and Economic BSc programmes. UoS has an enterprise portfolio that is worth £30 million annually, and its projects with SME’s alone account for £10 million. CEO of the University of Southampton, Professor Mark E. Smith, is widely renowned in the world of academia and has contributed significantly to the development of magnetic resonance technologies.
