Hot commodity: Mohd Shah checking on his chilli plants at the Fama centre in Alor Gajah. — Bernama
ALOR GAJAH: The use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology has helped a retired soldier become a modern farmer.
After retiring from military service in 2022, Sergeant (Rtd) Mohd Shah A. Rahman ventured into small-scale fertigation farming at his home with an initial capital of RM1,300.
He then partnered with a friend to start a vegetable farm using the same planting technique.
“My initial attempt to plant 2,000 polybags of eggplant was unsuccessful due to my lack of knowledge and resulted in losses.
“To improve, I attended a course organised by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) at a centre in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, to learn more about fertigation farming.
“In May, I took up a lease at a fertigation site at the High Technology Reference Centre at the Fama Alor Gajah Office. This centre has IoT facilities that make it much easier for me to monitor my agricultural activities,” the 43- year-old told Bernama yesterday.
Looking good: Mohd Shah monitoring his farm using IoT technology through an app on his phone. — Bernama
Mohd Shah, of Kampung Sungai Tuang, said the centre provides comprehensive fertigation equipment, including an irrigation system with pipe stems connected directly to the water tank and spikes, as well as IoT tools.
“These tools allow me to conveniently monitor key factors such as fertiliser composition and water pH levels,” he said, adding that the system saves him time, energy and labour costs.
“Everything can be monitored using an app downloaded to a smartphone and I can spend a lot of time with my family at home.
“Recently, when I had to take care of my mother in the hospital, I was not able to go to the farm for three days.
“But the IoT system helped me monitor and ‘worked’ by itself to mix the fertiliser and water the 560 polybags of eggplant and chilli plants,” said the Fama Contract Farm participant.
The father of four children, aged six to 11, said he managed to harvest about 1.5 tonnes of eggplant last season after 45 days of planting.
He added that through the use of IoT, Fama can directly monitor the development of agricultural activities by the participants.
He said Fama also provides counselling and advice, which enables him to learn more and boost his agricultural activities.
Melaka Fama director Nor Azhar Abdul Hamid said the IoT technology was purchased from Italy and introduced in the state this year.
“We are currently monitoring the development of the use of this technology as a pilot project,” he said.
