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AgBiotech

Encouraged by the agriculture sector’s 6% growth in the first nine months of 2004, the Government will continue to focus on its development under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. “This (growth) is an incentive to the Government to continue to give importance to this sector in planning the Ninth Malaysia Plan,” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

 
The agriculture sector has the potential to emerge as the country’s third highest contributor to economic growth after the manufacturing and service sectors, according to Abdullah. Malaysia will share its expertise with US in developing this sector under a new agreement to be signed this year. The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said he would discuss the matter further with US President George W. Bush at a possible meeting. “We are looking at the agriculture and biotechnology sectors as both Malaysia and the US have expertise they can share,” said Jamaluddin.

On the local front, Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd and TopPlant Laboratories Sdn Bhd have entered into a joint venture to produce high yielding oil palm clones using tissue culture technology. The venture will be undertaken by a new company called Kulim TopPlant Sdn Bhd. Managing director Ahamad Mohamad said high yield was vital, as it would help to sustain long-term value-add and productivity. He said although the company had achieved yields that were among the highest in the industry, more could be done to improve yield. “One way of achieving it is by planting high-yielding tissue-cultured clones,” Ahamad said.
  


Food & Nutrition

Breakfast is a great way to start a day. Recent studies have shown people who regularly eat breakfast enjoy a more positive attitude, are slimmer and concentrate better.

Eating breakfast, especially one high in dietary fibre, is a great strategy to stave off the hunger pangs and control food intake mid morning and at lunchtime. Smart breakfast choices also help to ensure consumption of the recommended quantities of some essential nutrients. Please click here to find a summary on why including breakfast in your early routine is a good idea and some tips to ensure how breakfast can kick start your day.

  


Industry & Environment

 
Palm diesel, a renewable source of energy, has long been proposed as an alternative to the world’s depleting reserves of fossil fuels. From cooking oil to biofuel: Malaysia is close to making palm diesel a commercial reality. Palm oil could soon be available in petrol stations for as low as 85 sen a litre, just two sen more than the pump price of diesel. Sources said plans were already being drawn up to get petroleum companies’ co-operation to place palm diesel pumps in their stations. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said there had already been interest in commercial production. “A Klang Valley company had even proposed to build a plant in Negri Sembilan to produce biofuel for export to Europe,” he added.

Elsewhere, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Happy Soil Sdn Bhd have agreed to work together to research new technologies in solid waste management. They aim to turn food waste into organic compost. This would set an example in solid management for other organizations. The university will collect some 250kg of food waste from campus hostels every day and process it into compost, an organic fertilizer. “It is rich in minerals and nutrients, is pesticide-free, safe to use, but most importantly, cheap to produce,” said the Vice-Chancellor Tan Sri Professor Abu Hassan Othman.


 Investment

 
The Selangor Government has been urged to explore opportunities in the biotechnology industry to attract foreign investment into the State, according to the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. Sultan Sharafuddin said the biotechnology industry offered great investment opportunities and should be explored with more attention paid to research and development. “Biotechnology cannot be viewed as a product source but should be developed and explored further,” he said when opening Islam Towards a Progressive Economy 2005.

In line with the Government’s push towards biotechnology industry development, Felda plans to set up a RM20 million biotechnology plant in Sepang to produce better quality plantation seeds with higher yield. Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Yusof Noor said the Felda biotechnology plant will not only provide the seeds to Felda farmers but also to farmers nationwide and even overseas.

Besides that, Malaysia is also looking forward to form alliances with foreign countries for joint research and development in biotechnology. Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Mohd Jarjis who had completed a four-day visit to Ireland last month, was impressed that Ireland, which two decades ago was a relatively under-developed country in the European Union, had transformed its economy into a global investment hub for IT and biotechnology. “Malaysia would like to study the Irish experience and foster sustainable partnerships with the Irish,” said Jamaluddin.
  

 
Foreign countries, on the other hand, are also keen to invest in Malaysia. Malaysian-American trade and investment activities are expected to increase dramatically over the next two years, especially in the advanced technology sector, a business consultant said in Washington. Ernie Bower, a partner of BrookBowerAsia, said that there was a lot more interest in Malaysia from American businesses, particularly in the information technology, healthcare and life sciences (biotechnology) sectors.


On an unrelated news, Ecofuture Bhd, an oil palm biomass technologist firm, is expected to invest RM30mil to set up a pulp production facility using oil palm biomass in Segamat, Johor. The facility would be the first of its kind in Malaysia. “We expect the plant to contribute about US$3mil (RM11.4mil) in turnover from 2005 onwards,” said its chief executive officer Yeo Kim Luang, after singing a technology acquisition agreement with China’s Hang-Zhou Project and Research Institute of Electro Mechanics in Light Industry to produce pulp from empty fruit bunches.


Medical & Health

 
A DNA-based diagnostic kit to detect a common head and neck cancer has been developed by Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Medical Sciences. The kit is called EZ-EBV Amp and is designed to locate three genes of the Epstein-Barr virus which causes nasopharyngeal carcinoma or NPC. It contains an innovative mixture of elements to detect all three genes at once. “There is no product in the world that is in a thermostablished form which can do this,” said Associate Professor M. Ravichandran.

In addition, another team from USM has developed strains of self-terminating mutant bacteria with the potential to be used as oral cholera vaccine. “To initiate studies in human subjects, we need to produce the vaccine in a laboratory that has CGMP status,” USM Kubang Kerian School of Health Sciences dean Prof Zainul Fadziruddin Zainuddin said. According to Prof Zainul, USM could collaborate with Cuba to produce the strains for pre-clinical trials.


Trade & Policy

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has presented three main research strategies through technology and new innovations to enhance the palm oil industry performance at all levels. “The strategic research can generate higher income, increase productivity and strengthen industrial competitiveness,” said the Director-general Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron. He added that the increase in palm oil industry productivity would be focused via the usage of new technology and modern plantation methods.
 

At the same time, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities is due to submit a report on the possible use of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel source, said the Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui. He said the report would be submitted at the next meeting of the Cabinet committee set up to study the impact of rising oil on the economy. “The ministry is prepared to launch bio-diesel as an alternative energy source. But we must get the Government to give a go-ahead first,” he added.