Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), in line with the Centre’s ongoing Environmental, Social and Corporate (ESG) effort, will be hosting the first annual Asia Smart Farming (ASF) Conference and Exhibition 2023 with MY Events and ABS Greentech as partners, to help tackle food security and mitigate environmental challenges. 

In its recent hosting of Diplomatic Representatives for the event, MITEC reaffirmed its commitment to reducing environmental impact and attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with the #myWorld Programme, which has been in effect since 2018. The partnership between MITEC and relevant stakeholders aims to the bridge gap in achieving SDG 2, End Hunger by ensuring food security and promoting sustainable agriculture through smart farming practices.

Mala Dorasamy, Chief Executive Officer of the centre said “The MOU signed with ABS Greentech Sdn Bhd and MITEC in March, sets forth as the joint support to accelerate the growth of this initiative to improve the carbon footprint in the industry”. She added “There has been escalating global utilization of pesticides and fertilizers, which has negative effects on the ecosystem components. This highlights the urgent need for sustainable and environmentally conscious practices of smart farming”.

The negative impacts of pesticide-reliant agriculture have become more apparent when the use of chemicals in agriculture is increasing twice as fast as food production. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, the value of pesticide imports has increased by almost 300%. R.M Ravichandar S. Ratnam, the Group Chief Executive Officer of ABS Greentech Sdn Bhd said “In today’s world, ecological-based farming can offer a long term answer for producing sufficient food for the country that is of a high quality and both safe

for humans and the environment. Therefore, our primary goal is to promote the adoption of an innovative holistic Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach as an alternative method for local farmers to reduce their reliance on pesticides”.

ABS Greentech, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and other private organizations, has been implementing the new holistic IPM and integrating new technologies to cultivate pesticide-free vegetables in the tropical lowlands of Malaysia. The revolutionary No-Self AND (As Nature Does) and microalgae biofertilizers are examples of the latest ecologically-based technologies that will be promoted and implemented in Malaysia to enhance our local agriculture sustainability.

The Kalumpang Smart IPM Agroecology Farm (K-SIAF) is the first lowland proof-of-concept (POC) farm to demonstrate the effectiveness of IPM technologies. Successful partnerships with Lentiz Education (Netherlands), Rjik Zwaan (Netherlands), Priva (Netherlands), Jiffy (Norway), Koppert Biological Systems (Netherlands), Powerplants (Australia), and our local strategic partner PS Food & Beverage Sdn Bhd paved the way for this success and sustainable solution.

PGSB Sdn. Bhd. Board Chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat said that “It is important to bring together stakeholders from around the world to tackle this issue. By fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among members of the global community, we can work together to leverage localized expertise and develop innovative and sustainable solutions”.

The Centre is committed to its ESG efforts to assist in promoting a strategic partnership with ABS Greentech to highlight the potential of sustainable farming practices and demonstrate the significance of global cooperation in advancing agricultural innovation to address food security and mitigate environmental challenges. As such, the Centre is pleased to announce that it will host the impending Asia Smart Farming (ASF) Conference and Exhibition 2023, which will be held in MITEC, Kuala Lumpur from 3 to 6 October 2023.