DigAC 2020

49

P17

MONITORING THE EFFECT OF WEATHER VARIABLES ON WATER QUALITY IN
THE PADDY FIELD

Norlida Mohamed Hamim1*, Mohd Aufa Mohd Bookheri2, Muhammad Zamir Abdul Rasid1,
Muhammad Naim Fadzli Abd Rani2, Mohd Shahril Shah Mohd Ghazali3,
Nurul Syakira Shamsuri2, Hasliana Kamaruddin1 and Czahari Mohamad1

1Soil Science, Water and Fertilizer Research Centre,
MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

2Engineering Research Centre, MARDI Seberang Perai, 13200 Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang
3Paddy and Rice Research Centre, MARDI Seberang Perai,
13200 Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang
*E-mail: [email protected]

The efforts to monitor the water quality and pollution mitigation in agriculture are often
constrained by inadequate data on the sources of pollution, specifically constituent flux
under different soil, hydro-climate, land use and management conditions. Agriculture
inputs such as fertiliser are soluble in water, prone to leaching and in equilibrium with the
soil-water complex and their movements in the aquatic environment can be affected
by weather conditions. The management of diffuse pollution in agriculture lies in utilising
best management practices, such as variable rate fertiliser management at the farm
level to avoid significant impacts on the water quality downstream. By using a real-
time monitoring system, the relationships among various environmental elements that
affect the water quality at a specific location can be determined. A study to quantify
the effects of weather parameters on water quality was conducted in Blok L3A, FELCRA
Seberang Perak, a paddy field managed under two nutrient management systems,
namely variable rate and uniform rate fertiliser. A weather station was installed in the
field and the accumulated data were uploaded into the cloud server with easy access
from the website and smartphone. Additionally, in situ water quality sampling, analytical
lab measurement and geospatial and statistical analyses were used to generate
information on pollutant behaviour for the two nutrient management systems in the
field. Results show that environmental conditions such as precipitation and temperature
have significant effects on water quality in the study area. The monitored data will make
a valuable contribution towards reducing the risk of adverse environmental impacts
when implementing best management practices such as precision farming at a larger
scale. Further challenges are to widen the practice of water quality monitoring on farms
using a comprehensive IoT platform and to encourage best agriculture management
practices to reduce environmental pollution.

Keywords: nutrient management, surface runoff, pollutant pathway, GIS, wireless network

50 Digital Agriculture Conference (DiGAC) 2020

P18

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF FRESH FRUIT BUNCH GRADING SYSTEM

Ili Aisyah Kadir Mohideen, Santhiya Arumugam, Wong Mum Keng*, Yap Yau Koong and
Narayanan Ramanathan

Genting Plantations Berhad, 3rd Floor, Wisma Genting, Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur

*E-mail: [email protected]

In oil palm plantations, the oil yield is significantly affected by the quality of fruits
harvested. Conventionally, plantations carry out regular quality inspections of their fruits
in the field to determine the standards of the harvested fruits and any possible losses
resulting from uncollected fruits. These inspections are done manually using pen and
paper and compiling the inspection results is tedious and subject to computational
error. Genting Plantations Berhad (GENP) embarked on the digitalisation of the fresh fruit
bunch (FFB) quality inspection by developing an app that can capture field inspection
data quickly and accurately and provide the final results in a dashboard that can be
accessed easily from anywhere using a browser. The Android app allows field checkers,
supervisors and managers to record fruit quality such as unripe, underripe and others
as well as losses in terms of loose fruits and uncollected bunches directly into the app.
This information will be synced into the cloud storage immediately upon the availability
of an internet connection. In the dashboard, the data will be computed and displayed
in the forms of graphs and charts according to the format pre-set by the user. The
app also allows the capturing of images as proof of inspection and the incorporation
of additional comments such as pest attack. Data and reports can be downloaded for
further analysis and integration into business intelligence tools. The app allows users to
capture crop quality information digitally for direct reporting and further analysis. This
has resulted in improved visibility of crop quality, which has assisted the management
to take immediate action to improve the standards of harvesting.

Keywords: fresh fruit bunch (FFB), grading, app, ripe bunch, quality control

51

P19

IMPLEMENTATION OF LOAD CELL TRAILER FOR FRESH FRUIT BUNCH YIELD RECORDING IN
SEMI-COMMERCIAL OIL PALM FIELD TRIAL

Muhamad Faiz Jamburi, Mohamad Asyraf Hasli, Wong Mum Keng and Yap Yau Koong*

Genting Plantations Berhad, 3rd Floor, Wisma Genting, Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur

*E-mail: [email protected]

The yield data collected by most commercial oil palm plantations are limited to the block
or phase level and are usually inaccurate as the tendency to mix crops from different
fields are common during the fresh fruit bunch (FFB) collection. With the large scale
establishment of semi-commercial oil palm field trials to evaluate crop improvement
by selection and breeding, weighing FFB in the field is vital as the data are important
for breeding use. The FFBs in semi-commercial field trials are conventionally measured
manually by using a weighing scale. This is labour intensive and time-consuming. In this
study, load cells were installed on a mini trailer to allow the weighing of FFB directly in the
field once they are loaded into the trailer. This allowed the weight to be recorded based
on trial treatment without repeated trips to the weighbridge to carry out weighing, which
improved productivity in FFB data collection in semi-commercial field trials. The data
collected are in the digital format and can be transferred to the computer to eliminate
transcribing error. A comparison of the FFB measurements recorded by the load cell
showed variances of only −2.26% and 0.15% as compared to the measurements by a
weighbridge and manual weighing scale, respectively. Therefore, the key advantages of
using a load cell trailer are high accuracy (99.85%), digitalisation of data collection and
speed of recording, making it a precise instrument that can be used in semi-commercial
oil palm field trials.

Keywords: load cell trailer, yield recording, productivity, accuracy

52 Digital Agriculture Conference (DiGAC) 2020

P20

INTEGRATION OF IOT SYSTEMS FOR CONTROL AND MONITORING IN MICRO IRRIGATION
SYSTEM

Muhd Akhtar Mohamad Tahir 1*, Khairul Anuar Shafie2, Mohd Zaimi Zainol Abidin2,
Zulhazmi Sayuti2, Seri ‘Aisyah Hassim1, Mohd Daniel Hazeq Abdul Rashid1

1Engineering Research Centre, MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang Selangor
2Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang Selangor

*E-mail: [email protected]

Monitoring and control system are essentials for the environment and irrigation systems
in plant factory. This is due to the precision requirement for plant growth to fulfil the
optimum requirement of crops, for example lettuces and herbs. Currently, Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) was used to monitor the water pH, Electrical
Conductivity (E.C) and temperature in the irrigation system. The data collected from the
sensors were sent to local server which is located inside the plant factory. The E.C and
pH can be set to a specific value via electrical injectors inside the fertilizer and acid citric
tank. Since SCADA system is a local monitoring and control system, it requires on-site
user intervention if there is an emergency. The integration of the SCADA system to the
Internet of Things (IoT) will enhance the monitoring and control process of the irrigation
system. The monitoring and control can be done in remote mode and the user will be
able to receive notification in real time. The irrigation data which are stored in local
server is synchronized to a cloud storage and the data was displayed on the dashboard.
In this research, comparison has been made for a specific time interval between data
from SCADA system, local server and IoT cloud storage to determine the accuracy of the
acquired data. Based on the finding, the difference is less than 10%.

Keywords: Control and monitoring, IoT system, irrigation system, SCADA,

53

P21

APPLICATION OF AERIAL SPRAYING FOR WEED MANAGEMENT AT REPLANTING STAGE OF
OIL PALM

Kamalul Adham Che Ruzlan*¹, Norshahniza Mohamed Kamal², *Muhammad Khairul
Anuar² Haryati Abidin², and Lee Yang Ping³

¹Department of Agronomy, FGV Agri Services Sdn. Bhd., Pusat Penyelidikan Pertanian
Tun Razak, 26400 Bandar Tun Razak, Pahang

²Department of Geoinformatics, FGV Research and Development Sdn. Bhd.,
Bandar Enstek, 71760 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan

³Precision Agriculture and Genomics Division, FGV Research and Development Sdn. Bhd.,
Bandar Enstek, 71760 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan

*E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia. Weeds are
common problem in crop cultivation and identified as one of the important biological
factors that strongly affect the production of oil palm. Normally, the weeds habits are
competing with crops grown to obtain the sunlight, groundwater and nutrients for
growth. These problems are one of the serious risks for the primary producers as they
can compromise on the crop yield and quantity of nutrient intake. Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle (UAV) aerial sprayer is highly efficient and operate remotely with minimal human
exposure to chemicals. Therefore, risk of long time exposure to chemical is much reduced
if using aerial sprayer. Thereby, greatly reducing the time taken and maintaining the
safety precautions for the labour while spraying fertilizers or chemicals. In this study, the
research is focusing on the effectiveness of UAV aerial sprayer on weed management in oil
palm plantation (blanket spraying). The trial will be conducted at 123R, Pusat Penyelidikan
Pertanian Tun Razak (PPPTR), Pahang in replanting program area where the weeds are
densely populated. The use of the chemical rate is based on the recommendation that
contained in the product label. The result and analysis will be conduct in a duration of
12 weeks by assessing the scorching rate of target weeds. Then, the comparisons will be
made between UAV aerial sprayer and manual application.

Keywords: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), weed management

54 Digital Agriculture Conference (DiGAC) 2020

P22

LEVERAGING VISUALIZATION TOOL TOWARDS DYNAMIC DECISION MAKING

Zaireen Abdul Rahman1*, Farah Farhanah Haron2,
Aida Al-Quswa Mohamad Ali1

1ICT Management Centre, MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
2Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI Headquarters,
43400 Serdang, Selangor
*E-mail: [email protected]

Every organization has its own internal data, which are valuable resources. The efforts
of collecting the data will come to waste if the data is lost or misplaced; thus, the
managing of data is very vital. The challenge is not so much in the availability, but in
the management of these data. Most organizations do poorly when it comes to the
management of their data. Data has an intrinsic value. It is of no use until the value
is discovered and the data is made more understandable. More importantly, it should
make the data more informative. This information can be made used of in decision
making. Data visualization is a graphical representation of information and data. By
using visual elements like charts, graphs, tables, maps, infographics and dashboards,
these data visualization tools can provide an accessible way to see and understand
trends, outliers, and patterns in data. Data storytelling helps to connect the dots and turn
the data into high-impact visual stories. It is an incredibly effective way to communicate
the valuable insights, and assign meanings and context to data, which would otherwise
remain only as numbers in the Excel spreadsheet. According to surveys, 90% of the
information processed by the brain is visual; human brain can process images 60,000
times faster than the text. Hence, by providing decision makers with visual illustrations
of data would increase their understanding. The descriptive, predictive and prescriptive
analytics can be referred to the holistic infographic’s view. Leveraging of visualization
tools will definitely help organizations to understand data faster and more thoroughly,
thus making better analysis and predictions, which would ultimately lead to a better
decision making and action plans, derived from the insights.

Keywords: data visualization, data storytelling, holistic infographic’s view, decision
making

55

P23

An Overview of MARDI Agrobiodiversity Information System (AgrobIS) with Special
Reference to Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA)

Azuan Amron.1*, Muhammad Izzat Farid Musaddin.2, Muhammad Luqman Hakim
Muhammad Fuad1, Mohamad Zulkifly Zakaria@Mustafa2, Rosliza Jajuli1

1Agrobiodiversity and Environment Research Centre, MARDI Headquarters
43400 Selangor

2ICT Management Centre, MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
*E-mail: [email protected]

Malaysia in implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and in achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is necessary to have adequate information
on its agrobiodiversity. In addition, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans
(NBSAPs), requires accessible information on at least the location and status of important
species, ecosystems and land use, key biodiversity areas, and protected areas. MARDI has
taken the initiative to develop a centralized database that combines all agrobiodiversity
components into a single database called the Agrobiodiversity Information System
(AgrobIS). Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) are a key component
of agrobiodiversity as they have a direct bearing on food and nutritional security.
As a result, PGRFA in AgrobIS has produced greater information. To date, 15,993 data
collections of PGRFA stored in the AgrobIS. There are eight PGRFA groups in AgrobIS such
as fruits, traditional vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants, floriculture, palms, tubers groups
and rice. Rice recorded the highest number of data with 13,145 accessions, followed by
fruits (2010 accessions), traditional vegetables (704 accessions), medicinal plants (133
accessions) and others. PGRFA data in AgrobIS do not follow the Multi-Crop Passport
Descriptors (MCPD) because the data provider involved in the AgrobIS development
suggested for a system that enable them to develop their own descriptors based on
the descriptors by IPGRI (Bioversity International). The central reference of the AgrobIS
for PGRFA is the accession which is an anchor for the information belonging to the
species. The PGRFA data in AgrobIS are also extracted and annotated in accordance
with Multi-crop Passport Descriptors (MCPD V.2.1) to build 22 rice metadata and datasets
and published in Genesys catalog. Also, a total of 715 accessions of Malaysian rice
germplasms accessions in AgrobIS had been registered for Digital Object Identifiers
(DOIs). Publishing AgrobIS data in the Genesys alongside with DOIs will help to contribute
to the documentation of PGRFA and the way we exchange this information globally. The
involvement and contribution of AgrobIS in both projects showed the commitment of
MARDI for data sharing mechanism established by the Treaty.

Keywords: Information system, Agrobiodiversity, PGRFA, AgrobIS, Database

56 Digital Agriculture Conference (DiGAC) 2020

P24

NATIONAL AND GLOBAL ASSESMENT ON STATE OF CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE
UTILIZATION OF PGRFA VIA WORLD INFORMATION EARLY WARNING SYSTEM (WIEWS)

Rosliza Jajuli*, Zulhairil Ariffin, Mohd Norfaizal Ghazalli and Azuan Amron

Agrobiodiversity and Environment Research Centre, MARDI Headquarters
43400 Selangor

*E-mail: [email protected]

Data accessibility and traceability are also important to assess countries’ performance
in conservation and sustainable utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture (PGRFA). The World Information Early Warning System (WIEWS) is
the information system used by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for
the preparation of periodic, country driven global assessments of the status of
conservation and use of PGRFA. WIEWS also monitors, on the basis of country reports,
the implementation of the Second Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for
Food and Agriculture, adopted in 2011. MARDI as National Focal Point for PGRFA provides
relevant information through the dedicated reporting tool. All the official data gathered
provides insight into the status and implementation of the second global plan of actions
for the PGRFA and Sustainable development Goal (SDG) indicator 2.5.1 for zero hunger.
Country submissions to WIEWS also form the basis for the next global assessment, The
Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(Third Report). The launch of the Third Report is currently scheduled for 2023.

Keywords: PGRFA, gene bank, database



MARDI UPCOMING EVENTS

Persidangan Buah-Buhan
Kebangsaan 2021
6 – 8 April 2021
Putrajaya, Malaysia