Volume 2, Issue 1

January/February 2013

The Official Newsletter for The Faculty of Agro Based Industry

MyFIAT
become individual that are not forgetful and become negligence due to the success, luxury and praises that we obtained. Instead we should be thankful for each and every grace that He has provided unto us, by continuing doing good deeds and increasing our efforts to rectify our self and our worship as so we become people who are really successful in the eyes of the Creator.

2013:MOVING FORWARD
Time passes and wait for no one, 2012 is now behind us. With the beginning of 2013, we invite with open arms and thanking Allah S.WT. for the extra time given to us.
or disappointment are all test from the All Mighty. Indeed your property and your children are only a test, and to Allah is the provider of rewards (Surah At-Taghabun)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

page 2013: MOVING FORWARD RiceSeed 2012 African delegates Shami goat Bio-Kelantan convention 2012 Rice seed presentation Bio-entrepreneur talk UMK stingless bee colony Fish balls and more Demong beach getaway Inroads in India Upcoming events Deans list Faces in 2013 1-2 1 3 3 3 5 5 6 7 7 7 8 8 8

The year 2012 we leave behind with a thousand lesson. Every event sweet and beautiful, sour and bitter what has passed let them be a reminder and a warning. As servants, we Indeed successful are the are always tested to deterpeople that received the remine our faith towards minder and continue to try to Him. clean himself Surah What ever that AAla). has been achieved, be it Prof. Dr. Ahmad Anwar Ismail ranking or remuneration, The year 2013 will come awards or praises, offspring Such reminder should be onto us with new trials and or success, or even disaster contemplated so we can

RiceSeed 2012
The National Seminar on Rice Seed Certification and Certified Seed Production (RiceSeed) was successfully held from 11 13th December 2012. RiceSeed 2012 was jointly organised by the Faculty of Agro Based Industry (FIAT) and Agricultural Chemicals Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (ACM). The brainchild behind the seminar was Dr Suhaimi Othman @ Osman from FIAT and Mr Thomas Tan (Cont. on page 4)

BU
Technical : Nik Ahmad Fakruddin Nik Zulkefli Mohd Salbaharin Ismail

UE I SS R PE

Advisor : Prof. Dr. Ahmad Anwar Ismail Editors : Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin

MyFIAT Faculty of Agro Based Industry Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Jeli Campus Locked Bag 100, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan Tel : 09-9477021 Fax : 09-9467158 Email : hafiz@umk.edu.my

Volume 2, Issue 1

January/February 2013

2013: MOVING FORWARD

challenges. With the year 2020 nearing, How should FIAT move quickly and steadily in l in e wi t h th e J e l i Transformation Program of the Campus as a Faculty that is Relevant, Referred and Respected, succesfully churning graduates with excelent atributes, technolgy know how, far sighted, nature friendly and also having the attributes of an entrepreneur, in short graduate with 1st class mindset. With regards to the socia-political landscape of the campus; how can the Jeli Campus community (and also those in the Pengkalan Chepa Campus, and Also Bachok Campus), the lecturers, administrators and also studend must u n de rt ake their responsibility in this new environemnt. There is no easy route, as all the challenges should be faced with open hearts and open minds. We should put priority on the Vission and Mission rather than on our own individual needs; sacrificing when needed. As we move into this new year, we should always be sensitive to the changes of the enviroenment so that we are able to benefit from it. We must never be careless in whatever we are doing, or with what we have achieved the previous year, by not realilzing the changes around us. Changes is a factor that will always influence our moves and activities. Thus, we should not be just reactive in these changes. System, procedure, and people will always continue to encourage and motivate us to face the ever changing environment, but it is still the individual themselves that ensures the ability to adapt to the changes. The Jeli Campus community, especially those under the Faculty of Agro Based Industry, change your attitude and your mindset towards achieving greater success in teaching and learning, research and innovation, and do not be left behind to provide our service to the local community especially. I hope this year we will all continue to ellevate our intention and willpower to give our best in our work with full responisibility, trust, honesty, efficienccy and fair. In competing with the current development, we must strive to build a good prestigic working system, utilising the pool of talent having competenc y in various skills and the use of cu rre nt and a dva nc e technolgy. To achieve this, we must continue to enhance the quality to a higher level which should be done e ve ry t im e and continously. What is for sure is that success is not absolute, as if we do not follow, we will be left behind. Bagi mencapainya, kita. Everyone should be dedicated to work together and complementing each other in our activities, so that whatever we do will always run smoothly and a lwa y s ac h ivi ng t he objectives set. Execution is really the critical part of successful strategy. Getting it done, getting it done right, getting it done better This is a challenge that we should undertake, and requires great effort and commitment. The integrity and the strength of an instiution like UMK or the various departments, faculties or units under it are dependant on the work ethics of its staff. Thus it is crucial that everyone must practice good ethics and morals inline with the ethics requirement at the workplace. Let us all enter 2013 with humility and full of realization. Firstly, let us rectify ourself from the shortcomings due to our negligence in 2012. Secondly, let us all face every challenges with better preparation. Thirdly, let us all give the intention and willpower to become good individuals, especially employees that are successful and noble. Who so ever wants dignity, than he must make an effort to seek it by following His commands, because of Allah, belongs all glory Surah Fathir 35:10). Let us all become Muflihuun which are people who are really successful in the eyes of the Creator. My message to everyone; face the coming days with high spirit and a strong soul by continuing to give effort to move FIAT forward, together with the Jeli Campus and finally UMK. Become employees that are efficient and responsible in your actions to help realize the bigger agenda of UMK. Happy New Year 2013 AHMAD ANWAR ISMAIL DEAN, FIAT

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Anwar Ismail, and Prof. Datuk Dr. Reduan Che Rose, VC of UMK

Total Deans List Sem 2, 2011/2012:

112 students

MyFIAT

From 36 December, FIAT in collaboration with FVP successfully held the Basic Breeding of Dualpurpose Shami Goat course at UMK Jeli Campus. The course is wholly funded by the Ministry of Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah (KKLW) and the National Agricultur al Traini ng Council under the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS). The purpose of

the course was to introduce the Shami goat breed in Malaysia, due to its dual purpose high meat yield and milk production. Kursus ini bertujuan . There were 51 participant who attended this course comprised of local entrepreneurs, breeders and also individuals from various parts of Kelantan. Various topics were discussed handled by lecturers from UMK, representatives from Halal De-

velopment Corporation Malaysia, and ASREDA Corporation. On the last day of the course, participant vis-

ited a goat farm in Air Guring, Jeli. The farm was managed by Jeli Area Pertubuhan Peladang.

The Jeli Campus in general received special guests from various African Countries. The guest form part of a delegates of Ambassadors and Higher commissioners who are in Kelantan for a working visit to forge possible collaborations. The delegates were headed by his Excellency (H.E.) Nadir Yousif El-Tayeib Babiker (Sudan). Among the delegates were H.E. Abdel Malek Bouheddou (Algeria), Cut hbe rt Zh aka t a (Zimbabwe), H.E. Thami Mseleku (South Africa), H.E. Samori Angwa Okwiyu (Kenya), H.E. Mohamed Saad Ibrahim Ebied

and wife Omaima Ebied took place during the high to make linkages and possi(Egypt), H.E. Bello Shehu tea as staffs and students ble collaboration with AfriRingim and wife, Raiya from both FIAT and FSB can countries, as it would be Bello Ringim (Nigeria), Ms took the chance to get to a new frontier not only for Martha Mazimba, the acting know more about the Afri- the faculty, but also the UniHigher Commissioner for can countries. FIAT staff versity. Zambia, Mr. Ousmane should take the opportunity C a ma ra Ndiongue, De pu ty Head of Mi s si on (Senegal), and Mr. T i t u s Shikongo, 1st Secret a r y (Namibia). The delegates of Ambassadors, higher commissions and representatives of A fruitful African countries with the UMK VC, DVC,jeli kampus director and other senior discussion

On the 1st of November, Kelantan Biotech Corporation Sdn. Bhd held a Biotechnology Seminar, entitled Mengembalikan Kegemilangan Tamadun Islam Melalui Biotechnolgi. The Seminar was held at Per-

dana resort, Pantai Cahaya Bulan in Kota Bharu. Dr. Shamsul Muhamad,, Dr. Amir Husni, Mrs. Zurhalida Tuan Harith, Mr. Mohd Shaiful Azman, and Mr. Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin attended the one day semi-

nar. Dr. Shamsul presented a pa pe r entitled Penerokaan & penyelidikan Produk Bioteknologi: Kerjasama Institusi Penyellidikan dan Usahawan. The other 3 papers were Sumbangan Saintis Islam dalam

Kegemilangan Tamadun Islam, Pembangunan Produk Bioteknolgi: dari Tradisional ke Pengkomersialan and Industri Bioteknologi: Perkongsian Pengalaman Pemain Industri.

Early morning in UMK, Jeli Campus.

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January/February 2013

Continue from front page: National Eng Soon, Managing Director of ACM. The theme of th i s se mi na r, Entrepreneurship Development for Certified Rice Seed Production is in parallel with the countrys mission to establish leadership position in regional breeding services and to scale up and strengthen the productivity of paddy farming as part of the Entry Points Project in National Key Economic Area (NKEA). T he se mi na r kicked off with a crucial keynote speech made by En. Zakaria Bin Mohamad Sidek, Director of Paddy, Industrial Crops and Floriculture Section, Department of Agriculture. He pre-

Seminar RiceSeed 2012

Bin Che Rose, the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. In the evening, an official RiceSeed dinner sponsored by National Farmers Organisation (NAFAS) created a platform for all participants to strengthen their networking ties. On the second day, there was a total of 4 sessions, where Session T wo d i s c u s se d t h e Developments in rice seed production industry with speakers from Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (KADA), Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA), UMK and MARDI. The subsequent session focused on

The full house turn out during the officiating of RiceSeed 2012

Agriculture Drainage and Irrigation Division (BPSP). A panel discussion was held at the end of second day to wrap up all the sessions and to re-focus on the theme of the seminar.

dustries? One of the key criteria is that the graduates should be ready to get down and dirty (e.g. literally into the mud!) in the field and the supporting industries. We believe that FIAT is

The cultural dance by students of UMK Jeli Campus during the conference dinner

The UMK and ACM team preparing the venue the night before the start of the conference

sented a paper on the Usage of certified rice seed Strategies and measures to improve seed quality. This is followed by the Session One: Status and Needs, with a total of four speakers from Department of Agriculture, Padiberas Nasional, Farmers Organisation Authority (LPP) and Lahar Bubu Farmers Association (PPK). In the afternoon, the seminar was officiated by Prof. Datuk Dr Raduan

the Private sector participation in certified seed industry with valuable input from Agricultural Chemicals Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (ACM), Oryza Tech Sdn. Bhd., Felcra Berhad and Helena Chemical. Session four emphasizes Technology transfer and enterprise development with presentations from Nihon Nohyaku on pest management, Penang Farmers Orga nisation (PPN), ACM, UMK and

Indeed the rice seed industry has come a long way since 1960s. This is evident in the 41 rice varieties produced since 1964 by MARDI, with the recent release of the MRQ76 in September 2012 and MR269 during the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism International show (MAHA) 2012. Different agencies have shared their valuable experiences and private sectors have kindly shared the benefits of seed box technologies, the foliar controlled release nitrogen for rice seed and new technology developments for pest and disease management. Another important take-home message during the panel discussion was the succession of the current rice industries workforce. How can we encourage the younger generation to be involved in the rice seed in-

taking the right steps in producing all-rounded graduates with entrepreneurial attributes. In addition to active learning by the students, FIAT emphasizes 10% input from the industries, encourages student to create enterprises and view problems as opportunities for improvement. The closing ceremony was carried out by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Abdul Aziz Bin Latif. Participants were also given a site visit at UMK, Jeli campus the following day. The organising committee would like to take this opportunity to thank UMK, ACM, Department of Agriculture, NAFAS, various governmental agencies, private sectors and all participants for their efforts in supporting RiceSeed 2012. By Dr. Soon Jan Mei

MyFIAT

RiceSeed Presentation
The use of certified rice seed: strategy and approach to increase the quality of seeds
Ahmad Zakaria Mohamad Sidek, Mohd Ramdzan Maulan and Mohammad Zuhairi Ali Rice Unit, Crops Industry and Floriculture, Department of Agriculture, Putrajaya, Malaysia. This paper highlights the development of the certified seed program in Malaysia with regards to the challenges and strategy to strengthen the program to fulfill the needs of the industry in the near future. The program was developed through the participation of the private sector under the Malaysian Department of Agriculture Rice Seed Certification Scheme with the objective to meet the needs of certified seeds to be used in paddy plantation. Such a scheme was able to increase the production of certified seeds from 23, 336 tones in 2003, to 86, 025 tones in 2011, an increase of more than 350%. The overall rice seed industry has increased tremendously in many M r . A h m a d Z a k a r i a areas and has successfully fulfilled the objectives, and goals outlines under Mohamad Sidek, Director of the Paddy Unit, Crops Industhe National Food Warranty Policy (Dasar Jaminan Maknanan Negara). try and Floriculture, DepartAlthough the production of certified rice increased tremendously ment of Agricultre, Putrajaya, over the last few years, yet still the management efficiency of the certified Malaysia giving the keynote rice seed producer is still poor. The rate of declination of seed to grow in address for RiceSeed 2012 the field is as high as 50%, while the declination in the lab is only around held the Grand Riverview Hotel in Kota Bharu Kelantan. 10%. In the effort to overcome the shortcomings while trying to fulfill the increasing request for certified rice seed which are of high quality, producers in the industry needs to rationalize and optimized the use of current facilities available. The development of proficient, competitiveness, sustainable human resources is needed to strengthen the overall supply chain involved in the industry. Efforts towards improvement should be able to overcome problems faced in the industry.

On the 18th 2012, FIAT org ani z ed entrepreneurial

Disember succesfully a Biotalk which

was held at the Jeli Campus Multi-purpose hall, UMK. The talk was given by Mrs Puan Koh Siew Ching (picture left), the Head of Department of Customer Services, Malaysia Packaging Industry Bhd. Her talk was entitled Advances in Flexible Packaging Technology in Malaysia was attended by almost 200 student of the campus. The talk was also a part of Principe of packaging, postharvest component and postharvest technology. .

The 200 odd students (picture on the top) who attended the talk by Mrs. Koh Siew Ching (picture on the left).

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January/February 2013

Research on Campus (ROC)

Some time back, Mr. Suhaimi and I went to survey a stingless bee colony in agropark. The colony was on top of the tree about 4.2 meter above the ground. I told my wish to Mr. Suhaimi that it would be great if the tree happen to fall as we can easily extract the colony. The next day, we took a ladder and went to agropark. Voil !!! My wish came true. The tree fell during the night because of heavy rain. The colony entrance tube was 21.6cm in length, and 1.5cm x 1.0 cm wide. The stingless bees placed sticky resins on surrounding of the entrance tube to trap the ants from entering the colony. A portion of the colony with the brood were extracted and brought back into the campus for further research. The upper portion of the colony consisted of honey pots which were later consumed by us. Stingless bees

(Meliponini) have 50 times more species and differ from honeybees (Apini). More than 500 species of stingless bees occur throughout the world and they contribute to pollination nearly 70 crops. They are pantropical and are such an excellent pollinators to the extend some researchers called stingless bees as commercial pollinators for their pollination services on crops. A study done in the undisturbed and logged over dipterocarp forests in Sabah, Malaysia found abundance of stingless bees in forests in Sabah is chiefly dependent on the local availability of food resources. As the secondary forest is being cleared to pave way for agropark of Jeli Campus, can this colony survive? In Brazil, majority of the stingless bee honey production abilities were measured and they were mainly from the genus Melipona,

Entrance tube of the stingless bee covered with sticky resin to trap ants

whereas in Malaysia the stingless bees were of genus Trigona. Generally, stingless bee colonies make far less honey, and therefore have less economic appeal, compared with honey bees. Nevertheless, the honey prices are much higher for stingless bees than for honeybees, and used as medicine. The demand for products based from stingless bees honey, beebread and propolis is high, and

some bee keepers live only by selling of stingless bees nests as a good business. Now, the questions arise regarding whether stingless bees in Malaysia is a good honey producer or not. We intend to answer this question through a proper research. At the moment, the colony is still surviving in the Jeli Campus. Long live the colony! By Dr. Kumara Thevan & Mr. Suhaimi Omar

Mr. Suhaimi enjoying the honey from a portion of colony honey pots

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Anthropoda Class : Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Suborder: Apocrita Superfamily : Apoidea Family : Apidae Subfamily: Apinae Tribe: Meliponini

MyFIAT

On the 7th and 8th of December, a fish based food product course was held on campus. The purpose for such course is to exposed participants on fish based food product that can be done at home and also upscale for business purposes. The course is funded by the National

On the first day, hand held practical was handled by Mr. Abdul Wahab Isa and helped by Mr. Latif Musa. About 5 product were successfully made; satar rolls, fish balls, fish cakes, fish noodles, and a Kelantan favourite, keropok lekor. The participant also had the opportunity to eat what was made, and also handfuls of fishball, fish noodles and keropok lekor to take home. On the 2nd day, a much more detailed presentation was provided by Dr. Marriam Firdhaus Mad Nordin on the theory behind fish based food products and also up-scaling for commercial purposes. Mr. Abdul Wahab Isa explaining the steps for making fish This was than followed by
balls and fish cakes

A g ricu ltu r e Tr aini ng Council (NATC) was organized by FIAT and handled by MusliMush Ent., a student company comprising of UMK students. More than 40 people participated in the course comprising of old and young and from as far as Terengganu and Kedah.

Fish noodle in the making

a short presentation by En. Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin on the importance of innovation and creativity in processing food products. The courses ended with some closing remarks by Dr. Marriam Firdhaus Mad Nordin.

A 3 day FIAT retreat was held from the 13-15 December was held in Demong, Besut, Terrengganu. The purpose for the retreat was to discuss the issues from 2012 and lay out the plans for 2013. The staffs were divided according into SBS, SBT, SBH, SBP and the dean office. The first

day was dedicated to identify and document the activities of FIAT. The second day, got all the groups into serious brainstorming plan for 2013, and the last day was to present and further discuss on the plans for each group. It is hoped that this short r e t r e a t s e s s io n w il l staffs strengthen the ties between 2013.

in

gearing

for

Serious discussion to lay out plans for 2013

This is an another stone in the building of UMKs pavement to the internationalization of education and research, Dr. Mohmmed Arifullah was successful in establishing MOU between Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) and UMK on his visit to SVU on in 2012. SVU is one of the oldest universities in

India which started in 1954, and is renowned for its scientific resear ch a nd a c c o m p l is h ments in India. Dur ing his From Right: Prof. Satyavelu Reddy, Prof. visit to SVU W. Rajendra, Dr. Mohammed Arifullah Dr. Arifullah met the uni- Prof. W. Rajendra and the versity vice chancellor registrar Prof. Satyavelu

Reddy. Dr Arifullah presented a souvenir from UMK, and briefed the SVU officials about UMK and discuss potential areas to collaborate. An MOU between both institution is currently being discussed involving research and also staff and student mobility programs.

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8
MyFIAT would like to bid farewell to Dr. Shukur Nordin. Thank you for your service to FASA and FIAT. May you continue to share your knowledge and experience where ever you go.

Upcoming events
Semester 2 session 2012/2013: 17 February 2012 ASEAN Regional Conference on Food Security, 8-11 October 2013, Penang

Congratulations FIAT DEANS LIST Semester 2 session 2011/2012

SBH (28), SBT (40), SBP (12) SBS (32).

FACES IN 2013

Back row (left to right): Pn. Hasnita Che Haron, Pn. Nur Aiashah Ibrahim, Pn. Kharul Azmi Muzam Abdul Rahman, Pn. Zuharlida Tuan Harith, Cik Ysami Awang, Pn. Nor Dini Rosli, En. Nik Ahmad Fakruddin Nik Dzulkefli, En. Mohd Fahlil Mat Jusoh, Abdul Khaliq Zakaria, En. Suhaimi Omar, En. Mohd Badrul Hisyam Muhamad Alias, En. Wan Shamsul Amri Wan Zainul Abidin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ranajit Kumar Shaha, Dr. Suhaimi Othman @ Osman, En. Shazani Sarijan, Dr. Amir Husni Mohd Shariff, Dr. Dwi Susanto, En. Zulhisyam Abdul Kari @ Abdullah, Assoc. Prof. Dr. MD Ruhul Amin, En. Mohd Mahmud @ Mansor, En. Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin, Dr. Kumara Thevan A/L Krishnan, Dr. Mohammed Arifullah Middle row (left to right): Prof. Dr. S. M. Reazaul Karim, Dr. Fatimah Changgrok @ Kayat, Dr. Noor Azlina Ibrahim, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Anwar Ismail, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kassim Buhiran, Dr. Lee Seong Wei, Dr. Shamsul Mohamad, En. Muhammad Che Isa. Bottom row (left to right): Cik Illazuwa Mohd Yusoff, Cik Raimi Mohamed Redwan, Pn. Farah Asiqin Ali, Pn. Nor Hidayah Hamzah, Cik Wan Ezzatul Alile Wan Zainuddin, Cik. Aini Afifah Ismail, Dr. Marriam Firdaus Mad Nordin, Dr. Zakia Khanam, Dr. Soon Jan mei Not in the picture: Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Che Omar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seri Intan Mokhtar, En. Mohd Shaiful Azman Abdul Rahim, Cik Nik Nur Azwanida, En. Mohd Salbaharin Ismail, Pn. Najihah Shamsuddin, Pn. Anes Azura Zakaria)