KUALA BERANG — A team of agricultural experts from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) shared agricultural tips with twenty fertiliser entrepreneurs as part of the knowledge transfer programme involving agropreneurs from Kampung Pela, Ajil.

The high-impact programme aimed at improving the quality of life of the residents was held at Mini RTC Fertigasi, Kampung Pela and received cooperation from National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS UCTC) and Terengganu Department of Agriculture.

According to Project Leader Dr Wan Zaliha Wan Sembok, the use of appropriate fertilisers is very important to obtain quality harvest.

“Bio-fertilisers are produced using waste such as swallow droppings and are combined with useful microbe such as mycorrhizal”.

“This programme will help the farmers to promote bio-fertilisers and chilies to the glocal market. The 20 percent increase in chili harvest and 50 percent decrease in operations cost, and the sale of bio-fertilisers will increase the household income of the participants”.

“In addition, the participants were exposed to the techniques of producing bio-fertilisers that would enable them to create their own products and become fertiliser entrepreneurs in the future”.

She added that the packaging was also important to maintain the freshness of the harvest.

During the programme, lecturers and agriculutral officers trained the farmers in proper postharvest handling method based on good practice which includes packaging techniques and harvest storage to ensure its quality and longer shelf-life.

UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr Nor Aieni Mokhtar said that the knowledge transfer programme such as this for the community was important as it increased the visibility of UMT and allowed UMT to contribute to the surrounding communities.

For further information :

DR. WAN ZALIHA WAN SEMBOK

Project Leader

HEVOTECH Agropreneurs@Kampung Pela

School of Food Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

Tel : 09-6684981

Email : wzaliha@umt.edu.my

Published by :

Corporate Communication Centre

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu