Nur Ariff (right) and Mohd Jefri with their awards at the ceremony on Oct 30. – BERNAMApic
KUALA LUMPUR: A plantation company won an award for using siren frequencies and blue LED lights to deter wild elephants, reducing farm damage significantly.
Led by Felcra Bhd Sri Mahkota area manager Nur Ariff Sahah, the innovation earned the team RM8,000 and recognition for their efforts.
Nur Ariff, 27, said with the win of the Plantation Quality Award at the Felcra Visionary Award 2024, his team also bagged a plaque and certificate of appreciation.
“I am very thankful that the innovation has helped planters, as well as estate and small farmers.
“We carried out this project for two years and successfully prevented our farms from being targets of wild elephant attacks,” he told reporters at the award ceremony on Wednesday night.
Nur Ariff said the inspiration to use the Siren SM Mammoth came about when a 800ha farm in Endau, Johor, was frequently targeted by wild elephants from nearby areas, Bernama reported.
“You could say that our farms were attacked three to four times a month by these wild elephants, so this prompted us to develop a suitable innovation.
“Coincidentally, the Johor Felcra director also provided us with some tips,” he said.
According to Nur Ariff, elephants have sensitive hearing, hence the rationale behind incorporating sound frequencies and blue LED lights as an alternative in keeping these animals away.
“Elephants are actually afraid of blue light, so with the LED lights and siren installed along with the closed-circuit camera, we can fully monitor the farm,” he said.
“Previously, about 200 trees on the farm would be damaged by the elephants.
“Now that number has reduced to about 10 trees, so this is a good development.”
The Felcra Visionary Awards ceremony, held to recognise and appreciate outstanding initiatives in innovation and management by Felcra leaders and staff, also featured two additional awards: the Factory and Infrastructure Quality Award and the Subsidiaries Award.
