R&D has helped in the cultivation of kelulut honey and grapes at SFV.
GRAPES cultivated in lowland soil and acacia kelulut honey are among products developed through research and development efforts by the Agriculture Centre of Excellence at the Selangor Fruit Valley (SFV).
“The centre was launched two years ago and has been researching agriculture products to diversify their range and improve their quality,” said state infrastructure and public amenities, agriculture modernisation and agro-based industry committee chairman Izham Hashim.
“Besides grapes and honey, the centre has also been working on seed research with R&D company Green World Genetics (GWG) as well as tapping into modern agricultural techniques such as hydroponics and the Internet of Things (IoT).
“The centre also advises agropreneurs at SFV on ways to increase their yield through modern agriculture.”
He said this in reply to a supplementary question by Syamsul Firdaus Mohamed Supri (PH-Taman Medan) on R&D carried out at SFV to develop agriculture products that are not native to Malaysia but suited to our tropical climate.
SFV was developed by the Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS), a subsidiary of the state government.
Located in Jalan Batang Berjuntai, Rawang, the project on 1,000ha of land was developed in 2003.
Chua Wei Kiat (PH-Rawang) had earlier asked an oral question on SFV’s financial performance and the state government’s plans to develop the project.
“SFV includes a farm, an agrotourism unit and an Agriculture Centre of Excellence,” said Izham.
“It recorded a loss of RM312,913 in 2018, RM4,460 profit in 2019, loss of RM211,491 and RM346,534 in 2020 and 2021 respectively, but made a RM501,206 profit in 2022,” he said.
As for development plans, he said the SFV Farm would be the main food production hub in Selangor for local fruits and vegetables.
Other plans include using an IoT system in farm management and making SFV a model farm that adheres to standards set by Malaysia Good Agricultural Practices (MyGap).
“We want to develop SFV to be the main agrotourism centre in Selangor, which includes activities in addition to having a socioeconomic impact on the surrounding area.
“SFV is targeting more than 150,000 visitors this year.
“The centre will focus on developing different types of new plant varieties through studies and strategic cooperation with seed experts such as GWG to produce fruit breeds unique to Selangor for the local market.
“Plans to develop vanilla plants through the tissue culture method to meet market demand are also in the pipeline,” said Izham.
SFV, he said, was planning for all agropreneurs at its site to have MyGap certification for each crop to ensure optimal quality.
To another supplementary question by Haniza Mohamed Talha (Parti Bangsa Malaysia-Lembah Jaya) on whether it was possible for SFV to grow corn for animal feed, Izham said Selangor could only contribute a small amount.
He said Selangor did not have sufficient land to fulfil its own and the nation’s needs.
“We are looking at how best to utilise the available land space.
“Besides maximising use of existing land, we want to focus on the production of quality seeds such as the high-quality “juggernaut corn” breed that was launched last year.
“It has since been introduced at a corn farm in Kuala Langat,” added Izham.
R&D has helped in the cultivation of kelulut honey and grapes at SFV.
