As a sustainable farm, Cultiveat's plants are grown in biodegradable cartridges that sit in reusable trays and incorporate eco-friendly features and practices.
IN A world where land mass is fast becoming crowded with development and industrialisation, the agricultural industry has to find ways to become more efficient and yet be productive in their approach.
As a Malaysian farm that practises vertical farming in greenhouses, Cultiveat Group Sdn Bhd offers a smart and sustainable choice to get fresh quality vegetables.
It took part in the recently launched ESG Positive Impact Awards (ESG PIA) 2023 as a Marketplace participant, showcasing its produce to guests during the event, which was held on Oct 31 at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya.
Cultiveat was the brainchild of brothers John-Hans Oei and John-Ian Oei, who originally owned a business that serviced restaurants with their organic waste converter.
The brothers had segued into traditional farming to utilise the resulting byproduct: organic compost. These farms faced problems with pests and unpredictable weather.
In searching for a solution, they later collaborated with developers from a plant cartridge technology and after two years of research and development, Cultiveat was born.
As a sustainable farm, its produce is grown in biodegradable cartridges that sit in reusable trays and incorporate eco-friendly features and practices.
Semi-automated roofs adjust the amount of sunlight and heat into its greenhouses to maintain optimum environment for planting cool-weather crops.
Marketing head Charmaine Kon said unlike traditional soil farming that commonly uses polybags, which takes longer to disintegrate, each biodegradable cartridge used for planting breaks down within a few years and that makes it more viable than a polybag.
“Our produce is also cultivated in vertically stacked structures, thereby growing up to ten times more produce within the same area of land compared to soil farming,” Kon added.
“This is a more efficient use of land.”
Farming in this manner also allows Cultiveat to utilise neglected spaces, reducing the need for land clearing, which causes deforestation and soil erosion, to set up its farms.
Growing the produce in cartridges as opposed to in the ground also prevents soil nutrient depletion from a lack of crop rotation or continuous planting.
Cultiveat grows cool-weather crops like lettuces, herbs and tomatoes within the lowlands of Klang, a feat that would normally require air conditioning and artificial lighting (as with indoor farms), consuming high energy to replicate the cool weather like those up at the highlands.
Furthermore, crops grown outdoors are susceptible to volatile weather conditions.
The Cultiveat team at the launch of ESG Positive Impact Awards 2024 at Menara Star on Oct 31.
Cultiveat’s smart farms are designed to harness what nature already provides — sunlight — but with semi-automated roofs that adjust the amount of light and heat into its greenhouses.The farms also maintain conducive cool temperatures using energy-efficient fans and rainwater that is collected and channelled through the greenhouse walls.
This wise water management is another way that it practises sustainable farming.
Its plant-driven irrigation system calculates the precise amount of water required by each plant from seed to maturity and delivers the water via pipes directly to the growing trays.
This way, water usage is optimised without wasting more than what is required. This is in contrast with watering that is done en masse at plantations.
The produce is also grown without pesticides or harmful chemicals that are detrimental to the health of farmers, the environment and surrounding communities.
In fact, Cultiveat recently received the myGap Pesticide-Free certification and grant by the Ministry of Agriculture which certifies that our produce contains no pesticides.
It also verifies other good agricultural practices such as low-impact land usage, safe and healthy working conditions for farmers, and adequate training and facilities for farmers.
Cultiveat makes use of vertical farming as a solution to land usage and that goes towards preserving biodiversity.
By using precision farming methods, it ensures that about 98% of its crops are viable for sale, which minimises wastage and ensures wise use of natural resources and energy consumption.
When asked how its farming practices can help preserve biodiversity, Kon replied that using the vertical farming itself solves the question of land usage.
“Furthermore, we don’t practise land clearing,” said Kon.
She added that refraining from using harmful chemicals to protect water sources and reusing water are also ways of conserving biodiversity.
“At Cultiveat, we’re constantly innovating our farming methods and systems to improve the quality, quantity and productivity of our produce,” said Kon.
“We’re working on growing more types of crops in different types of locations to reduce dependence on farming only during certain seasons or only on certain types of landscape.”
With more farms to scale, more food will be grown and sold locally, which in turn provides better accessibility and prices for consumers, she said.
The ESG PIA recognises and showcases Malaysian companies’ journeys and achievements in the ESG space. Backed by OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd as the main sponsor, it also aims to accelerate ESG momentum across 15 categories and inspire greater adoption by businesses to drive lasting change and positive impact for a sustainable tomorrow.
The ESG PIA 2023 is organised by Star Media Group Bhd with OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd as the main sponsor. To register your interest in the awards programme, visit staresgawards.com.my
