The Merryganic Farm in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, may seem like any other ordinary agriculture hub located in Malaysia’s central spine.
Yet, plenty of work is taking place on the ground – literally – as its owner, Tan Teik Kiang, is working closely with Universiti Malaya (UM) to enrich the soil there.
In its effort to encourage organic agriculture, UM has formulated biochar with good bacteria to help produce good quality vegetables.
Biochar is produced from several feedstocks, such as agricultural wastes, bagasse, rice husks, animal manure, paper products, and urban green waste.
According to Regeneration International (RI), biochar is by far more efficient at converting carbon into a stable form, and is cleaner than other forms of charcoal.
Biochar helps improve soil quality by enhancing soil structure, increasing water retention, improving porosity, and improving microbial properties. It is expected to be valued at US$365 million by 2028.
Tan uses biochar for his plants. But thanks to the knowledge transfer session conducted by UM, he will now be able to produce even better products.
“This is indeed a good initiative, as we will get to increase our produce,” Tan said.
“Biochar is a new agriculture technology,” said Dr Rosazlin Abdullah, chief researcher at UM’s Faculty of Sciences’ Biology Science Institute.
“Biochar is able to improve the fertility of acidic land and improve the production of vegetation.”
While biochar technology is considered “new”, the practice of adding charred biomass to improve soil quality is not. RI said that this process is modelled after a 2,000-year-old practice in the Amazonian basin, where indigenous people created areas of rich, fertile soils called terra preta (dark earth).
Rosazlin added that organic innovation is important to ensure organic farmers enjoyed a good yield.
“As such, UM researchers have been advocating this innovation to organic farmers for them to get better returns.”
The innovation of biochar as a microbe host was introduced to the organic farming community in Cameron Highlands recently, by Aaronn Avit Ajeng, who is pursuing his PhD at UM. Aaronn is being supervised by Rosazlin.
Aaronn, last month, was named Rising Star Scientist 2022 at the 6th International Conference and Postgraduate Colloquium for Environmental Research 2022, held in Langkawi.
The initiative by UM could encourage more farmers to adopt biochar, enabling the country to tap into the lucrative biochar market, while ensuring local farmers produced good quality yield.
