AUTOMATION, DIGITALISATION KEY TO STRENGTHENING AGRICULTURE SECTOR

KANGAR, April 28 (Bernama) -- There is a need for the agriculture sector to be empowered with elements of automation and digitalisation in efforts to produce highly skilled young agropreneurs capable of addressing national food security challenges.

Human Resource Ministry deputy secretary-general (operations) Sutekno Ahmad Belon said that, for this, the Industrial Training Institute (ILP) of Kangar is, among others, focusing on the development of agricultural automation technology, which is currently in the final testing phase of a fully autonomous, system-controlled agricultural automation machine.

“Several demonstrations of autonomous machines for plowing and other tasks were showcased today, and we can see that these developments mark significant progress,” he told reporters after the launching of the Kangar ILP Silver Jubilee here today.

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At the event, which was attended by Perlis Agriculture, Plantations and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Razali Saad, Sutekno also launched the Kangar ILP Smart Agriculture Centre and witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the ILP and five local companies in the agricultural technology sector.

Sutekno said the automation technology is the result of a collaboration between Kangar ILP and agricultural machinery manufacturers, adding that it is expected to be marketed soon.

He said the introduction of automation technology not only has the potential to boost productivity in the agricultural sector but also attract more young people to venture into agriculture.

Meanwhile, Sutekno encouraged Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers to take the opportunity to further their studies in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) at the Kangar ILP, which now offers a Premier Agricultural Automation programme.

-- BERNAMA