Biotech Updates

Malaysian Government Driving R&D to Boost Agri Output

July 13, 2012

The government will generate more initiatives and provide relevant incentives for the development of post harvest technologies in a move to boost production in the agriculture sector, said Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. He said special allocations and research and development (R&D) grants would be provided to support these initiatives. "It is hoped with these initiatives and R&D grants, new technologies and knowledge will be developed to boost agriculture sector production, thus contributing to the food supply for the nation and the world," he said when launching the five-day 7th International Postharvest Symposium.

The quadrennial symposium, titled "Postharvest for Wealth and Health" and jointly organized by the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the International Society for Horticulture Science (ISHS). A total of  530 representatives from 23 countries are attending the symposium. Muhyiddin said that through better infrastructure, crop production management techniques and post-harvest technologies, Malaysia had set the target of raising production of agriculture commodities by 40 percent by 2020.

Check out http://www.nst.com.my/latest/government-driving-r-d-to-boost-agri-output-1.98042 for the news article.