Fertiliser has global potential
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lowing for a more efficient system compared with conventional fertilising efforts.
The brain behind OneBAJA is Professor Dr Noorhana Yahya, who is leading the UTP team in a collaborative effort, which also saw the participation of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
“We are ready for commercialisation and are looking at upscaling field tests. OneBAJA has been successfully tested in some rice fields in Selangor,” said Noorhana.
“While we are certain and confident that it will be successful, it does take about two years for oil palm and rice yields to be realised. We are confident that it will produce the desired results as proven in our trials.”
She said they were looking optimistically at an average of 20 per cent increase in yield.
Meanwhile, the product has attracted the attention of potential manufacturing partners from Australia and the United States.
“This will take UTP innovation and research product into the global arena, especially in keeping with our target Towards Global Prominence,” said Noorhana.
"We also have interested parties who are keen to help us promote the product in the European and South American markets,” she said, adding that all that was left to do was the branding and pricing.
While the idea for OneBAJA was initially mooted with the primary purpose of increasing padi yields, this technology will be applicable to crops across the board. This, she said, would not only increase crop yields but would also result in a more optimal use of land that was available for cultivation.
The first of its kind, OneBAJA has tremendous global potential. Being a green product from the manufacturing activities right through to the final product, it augurs well for a future where environmental concerns would be high on the list of priorities.
Additionally the increased yields, in terms of quality and quantity, will pave the way for the increase in food production and alleviate some of the concerns of food security as the world faces the dichotomy of arable land versus development requirements.