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UMT HELPS IMPROVE COMMUNITY’S LIVING STANDARDS THROUGH ITS FERTILIZER PROJECT

UMT HELPS IMPROVE COMMUNITY’S LIVING STANDARDS THROUGH ITS FERTILIZER PROJECT

Saturday, 29/01/2022

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The year 2021 was a challenging year to implement community projects because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, UMT was committed to helping the communities by partnering with various agencies and offering knowledge transfer projects, both physically and virtually. This is in line with UMT’s mission of “Generating Knowledge for Society’s Wellbeing and Environment’s Sustainability.”

The University with Besut Community Programme is one of the activities under the project “Baja.Com–Management of Organic Waste and Fertile Soil”, funded by the Knowledge and Technology Assimilation Grant Scheme (KTAGS). The programme is intended to teach the communities how to handle organic waste effectively by practicing the concepts of waste-to-wealth and circular economy. The aim is to enable the local communities to earn better incomes and increase their awareness of how important it is to conserve the environment, especially around their areas.

UMT’s collaboration with the Mushroom Hub began in 2020 following a discussion with Tuan Mohd Pauzi Tuan Deraman, chairman of Kampung Bukit Tanah Cooperative, and a visit to the Mushroom Hub site. The partnership is meant to help mushroom growers create fertilizers from mushroom substrates, which are normally discarded after use.

The KTAGS project, a collaboration between researchers from UMT, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), has opened a new chapter in the management of waste at community level and has helped residents of Kampung Tempinis and mushroom growers around Besut. The project is capable of providing a good impact and increasing the awareness on sustainable waste management.

The waste management awareness programme is needed as the production of solid waste that has caused environmental pollution has increased. This not only damages the environment but disrupts a good surrounding due to the odour and presence of wild animals and insects. Composting can reduce the dumping of solid waste at disposal sites while helping to make the soil fertile. Systematic waste management can help conserve the environment and avoid open burning.

UMT has identified potential collaborators for the project on creating fertilizers from mushroom waste. The project is intended to generate incomes for the local community through the establishment of fertilizer hub, where fertilizers are created using a technology developed by UMT researchers. The technology enables sustainable management of mushroom waste by converting it into high-value fertilizers. UMT is willing to offer its expertise to communities and make the project a success with support from the state government.

 

Published by:
Corporate Communications Office
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu