Industry 4.0 in Malaysia and smart agricultural

1. SMART AGRICULTURE IN MALAYSIA:
EMBRACING THE CHALLENGES &
OPPORTUNITIES
Muhammad Syafiq Izuddin Bin Mohd Nasir
Commerce & Logistic

2. THAILAND
CAMBODIA
MALAYSIA
SINGAPORE
VIETNAM
BRUNEI
PHILIPPINES
PAPUA
NEW
GUINEA
I N D O N E S I A
LAOS
Population
32.7 million
Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)
€ 326.42 billion
Gross national
Income (GNI)
€ 317.64 billion
Equatorial Climate – Mean 15.9 – 33.5 °C
Rainfall– 1,691.8 – 5,320.8 mm
Total area– 330,414.4 sq.km

3. Comparison in percentage of production by sectors in 2021
Source: Malaysia Central Bank 2021 (Bank Negara Malaysia), Malaysia
Services
57.0%
Manufacturing
24.1%
Mining & Quarrying
6.7%
Agriculture
7.4%
Construction
3.7%

4. Definition:
Agricultural
What is
Agriculture is the cultivation of crops or the husbandry of livestock in pure or integrated
crop/animal production systems for the main purpose of food production, but also for the
provision of biomass for material and energetic use.
Harris, David R. and D. Q. Fuller (2014) Agriculture: Definition and Overview

5. Southern region: Pineapples
Middle region Highlands: Fresh
vegetables, strawberry, grapes
Northern region: Low land, Paddy
field and sugarcane
Agricultural production by region
Palm tree and rubber plantation
almost every state.

6. Rural area: blackpaper
Highlands: Dairy production
Agricultural production by region

7. Agriculture Industry
In Malaysia 2020
Employed 10% of labour force
Global trade reached $45.5 billion
(+)Exported of $25.8 billion
(-)Imported of $18.7 billion
Source: Malaysia Central Bank 2021 (Bank Negara Malaysia), Malaysia

8. Source: Malaysia Central Bank 2021 (Bank Negara Malaysia), Malaysia
Key agriculture products
25.8% and 34.3% of the
world’s palm oil
production and exports.
9.1% and 19.7% of the
world’s total production
and exports of oils and
fats
World’s second largest
palm oil producer and
exporter after Indonesia.

9. What is Smart Agriculture?
Also known as Farming 4.0 or digital farming, is the application of
information and data technologies to optimise complex farming
systems. It involves individual machines and all farm operations.

10. How does smart farming work?
Smart farming incorporates information and communication technologies into
machinery, equipment and sensors used in agricultural production systems.
Technologies such as the IoT and cloud computing are advancing this
development even further by introducing more robots and artificial intelligence
into farming.
Video
https://youtu.be/581Kx8wzTMc

11. For example, farmers can use smartphones and tablets to access real-time data about
the condition of almost anything involved in their day-to-day operations:
Soil Plants Terrain
Livestock Weather Resource usage
=

12. How is Digital Farm Technology Transforming Agriculture?
Farm labour is becoming
increasingly scarce due to urban
migration and ageing
populations.
Intensifying climate change is
altering growing conditions in
less predictable ways.
Earth’s resources and biodiversity
are diminishing.
✓ Smart farming tools can help reduce these impacts, minimise environmental constraints and reduce
production costs in farming activities.

13. What is the impact of IoT in farming?
Improved efficiency
Smart devices can help you
automate operations such as
irrigation, fertilising and pest
control.
Reduced human resources
Smart technology automates
manual processes, this reduces
your reliance on human
resources.
Early disease detection and
prevention
Lower mortality rates and
ensure a healthier herd with
technologies
With more control (even
remotely), farmers can reduce
risks and plan better.
More control over internal
processes
Enhanced product quality and
yield
Achieve better control over the
production process and
maintain higher standards of
crop quality and higher yields.
Minimise human error
Using smart sensors
reduces manual work, and
thus human error

14. Agriculture in Malaysia
Case study from Oil Palm Plantation
Challenges
Solutions

15. SWOT ANALYSIS
(Palm Oil Plantation)
3D – Dirty, dangerous, difficult
Low income level, minimum wage
S
W
O
T Environmental concern
Eurozone’s ban on Palm Oil (Renewable
Energy Directive II)
Provide employment opportunities
Palm-based biodiesel
Essential commodity
Ample land availability
Strong institutional support
Unfavourable climate conditions in
certain planting areas
High cost of production
Biomass energy
Pest control

16. Description: In 2020, the European Union was Malaysia's most valuable export market for palm oil and palm-based products, with exports amounting to around 11.3 billion Malaysian ringgit. This was followed by China and India, with a value of around 10.8 billion
ringgit and 8.6 billion ringgit respectively. However, plans by the European Commission to phase out the use of palm oil in transport fuel by 2030 threatens to reduce the size of this market for Malaysian palm oil in the future. Read more
Note(s): Malaysia; 2020
Source(s): MPIC; Statistics Malaysia
11.27
10.77
8.58
3.39
2.85
2.73
2.67
2.47
2.32
2.08
1.69
1.53
1.26
1.14
1.05
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
EU
China
India
USA
Pakistan
Japan
Turkey
Singapore
Philippines
South Korea
Viet Nam
Kenya
Saudi Arabia
Nigeria
Bangladesh
Value in billion Malaysian ringgit
Leading palm oil and palm-based products export markets for Malaysia in
2020, by value (in billion Malaysian ringgit)
Leading palm oil and palm-based products export markets for Malaysia in 2020 by value

17. “The cultivation of palm oil, which is used in everything from
ice cream to lipstick, is blamed for large scale deforestation in
Southeast Asia and for endangering wildlife, such as
orangutans and pygmy elephants. Indonesia and Malaysia are
the top two producers of palm oil”

18. On Jan. 17, 2018, the European Parliament voted to phase out palm oil from its
renewable energy program by 2021. It also wants to cap crop-based biofuels at the
member states’ 2017 consumption levels and no more than 7% of all transport fuels
until 2030.
The vote did not receive a warm response from the palm oil sector. The European
Palm Oil Alliance (EPOA) believes that the move was based on the belief that palm
oil production was closely linked to rapid deforestation in countries producing the
crop.
Renewable Energy Directive II will phase out palm oil imports for use as a biofuel
by 2030.

19. A lack of skilled harvesters means companies
cannot fully capitalize on the peak harvest
season that spans from August to November,
forgoing a boost of growth from recent rains.
Migrants, mainly from Indonesia and
Bangladesh, make up around 80% of the
workforce in Malaysian estates.
Up until April last year as many as 337,000 migrant workers,
mostly from Indonesia, worked on Malaysian plantations,
making up about 80% of the workforce. Thousands of them
flew home throughout the pandemic while Malaysia closed
borders and stopped issuing new work permits to control the
spread of the new coronavirus. Hundreds of undocumented
workers were also deported.

20. Wild animal attack?
“the attacks that happened
two years ago resulted in the
damage of more than 4,000
oil palm trees”
PERHILATAN – Transports the
animal to the safe place
Biological control

21. “Attacks by damaging the
entire palm fronds from tree
to tree by damaging the
green leaves until they dry
up”
Elaeis guineensis
Oryctes rhinoceros
An effective control to control this pest is to spray
trichlorfon or cypermethrin on palm leaves.

22. Ganoderma is a white rot fungus that begins be
degrading lignin followed by cellulose. Degrading
internal lignin and cellulose within the palm
affects water conducting parts of the plant, and
predisposes the palm to trunk failure

23. How Smart Farming can help to boost
productivity and reducing negative impacts
on Palm Oil Industry?
Video
https://youtu.be/KVGRIo3dAas

24. How Smart Farming can help to boost
productivity and reducing negative impacts
on Palm Oil Industry?
Increase productivity, reduce the use of pesticides due to
accuracy in planning, reduce dependency on labour work,
reduce production cost and etc..

25. Government actions to tackle
global issues?
In fact, in the year since it became
mandatory, 87 percent of Malaysian
producers were certified under the MSPO.
That includes nearly all organised
smallholders and plantation companies and
39 percent of independent smallholders.
Recently, the World Resources Institute
found that, over the last four years,
Malaysia’s rate of deforestation has
decreased annually. This could possibly be a
result of Malaysia’s forest management and
conservatorship, which includes tougher law
enforcement and mandatory moratoriums.

26. Government actions to tackle
global issues?
Extraordinary programmes to protect endangered
wildlife and habitats have the support of
multinationals such as Unilever and Nestle, both
of which have committed to sustainable palm oil
production in Malaysia.
In addition, project-specific funding from the
Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Fund and
foreign NGOs, including Panthera from the US
and Orangutan Appeal UK, have been
instrumental in preserving wildlife species in
Malaysia.

28. Agricultural activities
play an important role
for food security.
Conclusion
Smart agriculture can
help to boost the
productivity and minimize
the production cost.
Palm oil production in
Malaysia is sustainable
and moving towards
reducing environmental
impact

29. THANK YOU