Company to raise RM30m to develop plantation management solution
LANGKAWI: Kambyan Network Sdn Bhd, a unit of Arinaa Kambyan Bhd, will raise RM30 million to enhance and develop its plantation management solution for the agriculture sector, particularly oil palm plantation.
Group executive director Captain Sudhir A.K. Kumaran said the company had initially invested RM10 million in digital agriculture solutions to develop the technology.
“We will launch our solution in phases, starting with the first phase next month in a 800ha oil palm plantation in Tanjung Malim, Perak.
“The oil palm plantation, which belongs to the National Land Finance Cooperative Society (NLFCS), has been given to us to implement this technology,” he said after a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima).
Digital agriculture uses new and advanced technologies to enable farmers and other stakeholders in the agriculture value chain to improve production.
Under ManUsIA, or Man Using Intelligent Applications, the digital agriculture solution uses sensors, communication networks, drones, artificial intelligence, robotics and other advanced systems and applications.
The company will look into other funding options once the 24month project with NLFCS is completed.
“Using the ManUsIA platform, we can autonomously manage the plantation. In 18 months, we can harvest the palm fruits straight to the mills.
“Autonomous harvesting, fertilisation, weeding and transportation — our 24-month roadmap for the NLFCS oil palm plantation,” said Sudhir.
He said the company had established working relationships with several agencies from Sarawak for the other phases, spearheaded by University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS), together with plantation firms such as multinational logging corporation Rimbunan Hijau, Felcra Bhd and Sabah stateowned Sawit Kinabalu Sdn Bhd.
Sudhir said the solution for the oil palm plantation was vital as the sector had been experiencing challenges such as low workforce, longer time taken for harvesting and poor oil palm fruit quality.
“The genetic palm oil yield per hectare is about 40 tonnes, but the average yield in Malaysia is only 16.3 tonnes. Therefore, we have a lot of room to increase production from oil palm land.
“As such, our technology will help planters produce higher yields and reduce dependency on foreign labour, increase technological knowledge and know-how of our local workers and increase production,” he said, adding that the digital agriculture platform would bring about positive changes to the palm oil sector.
The company offers various high-technology solutions for industries, such as logistics and warehousing, building management, energy/oil and gas, rural area broadband, manufacturing and aerospace.
For the aerospace sector, “ManUsIA Aerospace Robotic Process Automation — Field Operations” enhances maintenance capabilities by deploying autonomous managed information objects, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and robots to carry out scheduled maintenance or rectification with minimum manpower. This will reduce the frontline manpower requirement for operational squadrons.