Today, we revisit a bold agribusiness diversification venture by an oil palm plantation company during the late 1990s, amid the Asian Financial Crisis. While most were still exploring hydroponics, I was immersed in something even more radical: soilless farming.
It was a rare opportunity to be at the forefront of agricultural innovation. I worked with a visionary Malaysian agribusiness and a dedicated team, pioneering a groundbreaking farming technology in collaboration with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
At the time, growing crops without soil was met with skepticism — "Plants… without soil?" But we weren't just experimenting; we were growing commercially, flipping conventional agriculture on its head.
Over four years, we defied the odds by successfully cultivating temperate greens, fruiting vegetables, and culinary herbs in Malaysia's hot tropics using aeroponic technology. Our mission: reduce Malaysia's reliance on imported temperate produce and usher in a new era of precision agriculture. With determination and a lot of mist, we proved that high-value crops could thrive in the most unlikely environments. This is our story.
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