By Sofia Nasir
KUALA SELANGOR, Nov 29 — The state government has identified approximately 200 acres of idle land owned by the local authorities across Selangor, to be utilised for agricultural purposes.
State executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Izham Hashim said that discussions are currently ongoing with all local authorities to implement programmes under the People’s Income Initiative (IPR).
“There are 200 acres of land belonging to the local authorities across Selangor that we can use to cultivate chillies or onions under the IPR programme. Discussions are still ongoing.
“We aim to expand agricultural projects across the state while helping to improve the people’s income,” he said after introducing the first onion harvest at the Selangor Fruit Valley in Bestari Jaya today.
At the event, Izham introduced the Bawang Rose Ehsan, which achieved its first harvest of 32 tonnes from an eight-acre area using the Internet of Things (IoT) technology.
Also in attendance were Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) chief executive officer Datuk Mohamad Khairil Mohamad Razi, and Agriculture Department director-general Datuk Nor Sam Alwi.
Meanwhile, Khairil said that PKPS is conducting research at the Agriculture Centre of Excellence to develop a more resilient local onion variety.
The initial challenges in realising the onion farming project in Selangor included seed selection and the RM16,800 start-up cost per acre of cultivation.
“Our onion yield exceeds other locations, producing four tonnes per acre. This may be attributed to IoT technology and the use of fertigation systems.
“We have proven that we can successfully grow onions here,” he said.
