Location

Seberang Perai, Malaysia

Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. The area has 4070 ha of farmland with about 2000 farmers. Most farmers are engaged in rice cultivation. In recent years, urbanization has been progressing along with population growth, but much of the area is still devoted to farmland.

 

Issue

Low yields and periodic harvest

Although farmers in Seberang had been farming for a long time, their agricultural productivity was declining due to the effects of climate change and changing socioeconomic conditions. First, changes in rainfall conditions have made water management more difficult. In addition, inadequate management of waste from agriculture degraded the environment around farmland, which was also noted as a decline in productivity. For the future, it was necessary to transform the state of agriculture into a strong and sustainable one.

 

Solution / Lesson learned

Community smart farming supported by EPIC Asia

In response to this situation, a community-based smart farming project was implemented as part of the EPIC Asia program. In Seberang, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris took the initiative to expand smart farming to solve the above problems. The initiative involved 42 farmers and 14 students, as well as university professors, city council staff, and agronomy experts. Through this program, the students could share with the farmers the aquaponics and composting techniques they learned in class, as well as digital technologies such as real-time water monitoring systems and automated irrigation systems. As a result of this program, it is expected that farmers in this area can improve their farming techniques and become more resilient to future climate change.