Special Interest Group (SIG) is an initiative introduced in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia, in promoting research culture among groups of researchers.
One of the most prominent and active SIGs in UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan is EMiBio. This SIG is a result of a great synergy among vibrant researchers with a common aim which is to empower modern agriculture by merging modern technologies in maintaining and propagating agricultural growth.
As portrayed in the acronym, EMiBio’s research interest revolves around the field of Agrotechnology with an emphasis on “Environmental MIcroBIOlogy”. Their main vision is to conduct quality research on vital areas within their scope to ensure environmental sustainability.
The prime goal of EMiBio is to assess, practice, and produce the latest agricultural innovations to eventually assist in economic generation especially through the agricultural sector.
The EMiBio SIG group recently has successfully organized two sharing sessions through the International Webinar Towards Greener Earth series. The webinars are aligned with EMiBio’s intention to share knowledge with the global community on the importance of modern agriculture technology. The knowledge sharing sessions were targeted to cultivate interest and educate future generations in appreciating the importance of agrotechnology especially during this aggressive modernization era.
The first virtual session was held on September 9th 2021 with the title “Precision Farming: from Garden to Table” that was delivered by an invited speaker, Dr. Renny Eka Putri, a senior lecturer at the Department of Biosystem and Agricultural Engineering, Universitas Andalas, Indonesia. Dr. Renny described her research experience in using the precision farming method in plantation activity to maximize crop production. Dr. Renny also highlighted the use of sophisticated yet user-friendly technologies to systematically perform safe gardening from mere seeds to ready-to-eat crops which were implied in the title of the sharing session.
Succeeding the first session, the second virtual sharing session was held on September 24th 2021 which carried the title “Biotechnology Strategies for Sustainable Cocoa Production” by Mr Mohd Zulhilmi Abdul Rahman, an esteemed research officer from Lembaga Koko Malaysia. Mr Zulhilmi described their present active research on cocoa plantations and the obstacles they experienced along the way and how they overcame those problems. Mr Zulhilmi also enlightened the participants with their effort to enhance and sustain cocoa production by integrating biotechnological advancements in their research activities.
These sharing sessions that were successfully organized and attended by a number of participants with diverse research backgrounds, perfectly reflect EMiBio’s mission in empowering the use of technological innovations in agricultural research and development.
They believe that both sharing sessions had successfully educated and enhanced the interest of the participants in the agrotechnological research field which were delivered both through researchers and industrial perspectives.
Future planning has been properly scrutinized and mapped out to further achieve EMiBio’s mission. Research activities will be energetically executed, and the results obtained will surely be circulated to the public through more exciting and effective sharing sessions.