An aerial view of the padi fields at Kampung Kipaku in Tambunan district.
Pilot on a journey to modernise Sabah’s agricultural practices.
A SIGHT just outside his village house was forever etched in the mind of retired Sabah Air senior pilot Capt Naru Kiob.
The scene was that of his elderly uncle, slowly but methodically planting padi seedlings by hand. That was about two years ago at Kampung Kipaku in Sabah’s interior Tambunan district.
It set Capt Naru, a helicopter pilot and former deputy general manager and flight operations manager of the state government-owned Sabah Air, on a journey to find ways to help padi farmers like his uncle and also modernise Sabah’s agricultural practices.
With an extensive background in aviation, the obvious focus for him was the use of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.
Capt Naru explaining the use of drones during a training session at the Tambunan Community college recently.
Capt Naru was familiar with drones – he had been using them for aerial photography as well as providing training for those seeking Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) certification to operate the aerial vehicles.
Seeing his ageing uncle cultivating the padi field in his village got him thinking about using drones in agriculture – similar but on a smaller scale to when he flew Sabah Air helicopters for aerial crop spraying over cocoa and oil palm plantations years ago.
“As far as planting is concerned, many farmers still do it the traditional way – planting a clump of seven seedlings together for easier harvesting later. They don’t scatter the seeds.
Capt Naru’s crew preparing a drone for a spraying job on a padi field in Keningau.
“But the other laborious and time-consuming work, like spraying fertiliser and pesticides, these can be done using drones,” said Capt Naru.
Noting that spraying fertiliser and pesticides would usually be carried out as a communal effort or gotong-royong to lighten work, he said even this approach was time-consuming for the farmers.
“Five people spraying a one-hectare padi field would take about three days to finish, whereas using a drone would take less than an hour with more precise results,” Capt Naru added.
The scene that set Capt Naru on a journey to promote the use of drones in agriculture. His elderly uncle is seen slowly tending to a padi crop at Kampung Kipaku in Tambunan district.
“Manual spraying can result in some areas being over-sprayed due to overlapping while other areas may be missed completely. And in terms of health, drones reduce the hazards faced by farmers as they would not be constantly exposed to the chemicals.”
He reckons Sabah’s agricultural output could be substantially increased if more mechanisation – including the use of drones – was introduced to farming.
“Just look at Kedah: drones are extensively used in padi cultivation there, and the state’s rice production is far higher than that of Sabah,” he added.
Capt Naru (right) briefing Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor (second from right) about the potential for unmanned aerial vehicles or drones in the agriculture sector during a recent event in Kota Kinabalu.
According to the Agriculture Department statistics, Kedah’s padi harvest in 2021 amounted to nearly 452,000 tonnes while Sabah’s figure was just slightly over 54,000 tonnes.
To stimulate interest in drone usage for agriculture in Sabah, Capt Naru has invested in two drones – one for aerial chemical spraying and the other for scattering fertiliser pallets or seeds.
The drones have been used to spray at his uncle’s padi acreage and even in other areas as far away as Keningau and Tenom – for padi and other crops, including durians.
Capt Naru and his team getting ready to deploy a drone at Kampung Ambual in Keningau district.
At the invitation of the Tambunan Community College, Capt Naru has conducted short introductory courses on drone usage for agriculture.
“One of the problems faced in the agriculture sector is labour shortage. Using drones is among the approaches to overcome this and it appeals to the younger generation as well,” he added.
Noting that a drone for agriculture use could cost about RM23,000, Capt Naru acknowledged that this would likely be beyond the reach of most farmers, and this was where government agencies could step in.
A drone spraying a padi field in Keningau.
“We need government support to encourage the usage of drones in agriculture,” he said, explaining that an impetus could be the setting up of cooperatives specifically to acquire these aerial vehicles.
“There’s some assistance for padi cultivation, but we need to scale up, and one of the most effective approaches is to mechanise, particularly promoting the use of drones.
“At the end of the day, we are talking about our food security, and this is very much in our state and national interests,” Capt Naru added.
