Eating fresh, clean vegetables and herbs coming straight from a plant factory is a desirable goal in many countries, also in Malaysia. The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), which built such a plant factory a few years ago, is set to expand research and development (R&D) into areas like energy efficiency and alternative energy, mechanization, and the Internet of Things.
Senior research officer Mohammad Abid Ahmad said prior to this, Mardi had conducted R&D on production systems, crop agronomy management, crop lighting, biological factor management, zero waste management, market research, and product value chain. “As the factory enters its fourth year of operation, we find that various R&D projects can be carried out from monitoring the vegetables grown here. As the plant factory technology is quite foreign and still new in the country, many technical elements need to be explored, ” he explained.
Mohammad Abid said the idea to set up the plant factory came in 2012 when a local company, in collaboration with a company from Japan, expressed the desire to introduce such a system in the country. The local company held discussions with Mardi to seek its cooperation to develop a pilot project before introducing it to farmers or individuals who were interested.
Currently, the 2,400sq m plant with a height of 20m is equipped with technology that can accommodate 16,000 vegetables at a time. “Among the suitable crops are lettuce, curly kale, mustard, and oregano, ” said Mohammad Abid, who has served at Mardi for 15 years.
Apart from the quality and productivity factors of the vegetables, he said the gardening conditions in the factory were also conducive, clean, and comfortable for a modern farmer.
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