Edufun Agrimicrob
Science Holiday Workshop Series III
Venue : UTAR Kampar campus
Date: 19 December 2023
Details of the event.
Group photo taken with Dr. Ong Mei Kying (center; chairperson of the Edufun workshop), Dr., Ali Yassoralipour (3rd from right; HOD of Department of Agricultural and Food Science, workshop committee members, facilitators, student helpers and participants.
Dr. Ong Mei Kying (organizing chairperson) welcoming all participants and introducing the carefully designed workshop activities to raise interest and motivation in learning life science subjects. She also explained how these knowledge and skills can help in our daily lives.
Mr. Shawn detailing the event schedule and workshop activities. We are honored to have him as the emcee and helper of the event yet again. The workshop consists of four sections encompassing livestock farming, aquaculture, agronomy and microbiology.
Dr. Kwong Phek Jin elaborating on the importance of pregnancy determination to improve reproductive performance, ease farm management, aid in feeding efficiency, enable better monitoring of development, enable prediction or determination of litter size, and monitoring of early embryonic death.
Participants given the opportunity to use an ultrasound machine to determine goat pregnancy.
Pn. Nurdiyana 'Aqilah binti Roslan introducing the different macromolecule assays to determine the basic nutrients and quality of goat milk.
Participants performing iodine test, Biuret test, Benedict's test etc. in determining the quality of goat milk.
Dr. Ooi Ai Lin stressing the importance of fish, crustaceans, bivalves and seaweeds in food security and nutrition, as well as the role aquaculture plays to replenish these important aquatic food sources.
Dr. Ooi explaining the morphology and anatomy of shrimps.
Dr. Teoh Chaiw Yee demonstrating how fish should be dissected while detailing the morphology and anatomy of a tilapia.
Group photo taken at the end of the exciting session!
Dr. Tan Ji explaining the importance of agronomy in food security and sustainability. He also highlighted the importance of light, temperature, soil type, nutrients and humidity in growing healthy plants, and different plants require different types of growth conditions.
Dr. Tan introducing the different types of beginner-friendly plants suitable for a terrarium, including Fittonias, Syngoniums, Java Moss, spikemoss etc.
Mr. Jerry Lai providing advice to participants who were allowed to design and create their very own terrariums.
Participants showing off their unique terrariums!
Dr. Teo Kah Cheng introducing the students to the world of Microbiology, and how importance microbes are to humans despite not being visible to the naked eye.
Dr. Teo demonstrating different tests used to identify microorganisms and their biochemical activities, including staining, starch hydrolysis, hydrogen peroxide test and chemical control of microbes.
Participants introduced to aseptic technique, an essential skill to ensure that all experiments are clean and devoid of other microbial contaminants which could otherwise affect the accuracy of experiments.
Dr. Lee Kok Chang demonstrating how small microbes are, even at 1,000x magnification. As such, stains are usually required to allow us to see them more clearly.
Presentation of certificates of participation by Dr. Ong Mei Kying (Organizing chairperson) and Dr. Lim Tuck Meng (Dean of Faculty of Science)
During the closing ceremony, Dr. Lim Tuck Meng (Dean of Faculty of Science) explaining the importance of scientific knowledge, thinking and methodology not just in advancing Science, but also as building blocks of critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will shape one's life.
Group photo taken during the closing ceremony. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their tremendous support, and we hope to see you again soon!
UTAR Intervarsity Science Symposium 2023 (UISS2023)
Venue : MS Teams
Date: 12-13 August 2023
Details of the event.
Agricultural Technology (Agritech) Seminar Series 23:
Sustainable Pest Management of Fruit Trees
Venue : DDK1, UTAR Kampar campus
Date: 22 July 2023
Details of the event.
Group photo taken with our distinguished speakers, sponsors, staff, students and members of the public.
Dr. Clement Wong Kiing Fook, chairperson of the Agritech 2023 event welcoming all participants to the event, as well as explaining the importance of relying less on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to ensure sustainability of the agriculture sector.
Prof. Ts. Dr. Faidz, Vice President in R&D and Commercialization emphasizing the importance of agriculture for the Malaysian economy, and the need for education and awareness to improve the adoption of alternative and more eco-friendly alternatives to pest management.
Prof. Dr. Wong Hann Ling moderating the first session of the seminar.
Mr. Chandra Kumar from the Department of Agriculture Malaysia providing an overview of physical, chemical and biological control methods against agricultural pests.
Mr. Ti Yu Hang from Advansia Sdn. Bhd. who is also a UTAR Agricultural Science alumnus introducing the different types of chemical pesticides available, their properties, mechanism of actions, handling precautions etc. He stressed the importance of farmers using the correct pesticide for a given situation to prevent pests from developing resistances against pesticides.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wong Wey Lim moderating the second session of the seminar.
Mr. Shawn Wong, an Intergrated Pest Management (IPM) specialist from GreenHeart Farms Sdn. Bhd. explaining the feasibility of IPM in agriculture using examples of capsicum, chilli, tomato, cucumber and strawberry farms in Cameron Highlands. He emphasized the importance of getting the culture conditions as best as possible before considering the employment of biological pest control.
Mr. Hans Leong from Kean Beng Lee Industries Sdn. Bhd. (Baba) explaining how a mixed use of organic and chemical methods in agriculture (via the satu kali kimia, satu kali organik method) offers the best balance between productivity and sustainability. He also shared a long list of testimonials from happy farmers who adopted this approach.
Ms. Lim Chuu Fong from Kean Beng Lee Industries Sdn. Bhd. (Baba), also a UTAR alumnus, explaining the importance of standards and certifications to ensure that products marketed as 'organic' truly satisfy the international standards of being organic. She introduced EarthTag, an internationally-recognized organic certification and provided an overview on the application process and benefits of such a certification.
A forum was held after the lunch break. The session was moderated by Dr. Ong Ching Ang, an agricultural expert from MARDI and UTAR, and involved all five speakers of the event. The speakers and participants were allowed to ask questions and suggest agricultural issues for debate.
Dr. Ong Ching Ang providing valuable insights from his many years of experience in agriculture. Examples of topics discussed during the forum include the economic feasibility of integrated pest management (IPM) and organic agriculture, authenticity and fraud prevention of organic products, importance of meticulous diagnosis of plant symptoms and disease identification, possibility of biological control in open agricultural systems, common issues associated with farms applying for organic certificates and many more.
A group photo of the forum: (from left to right) standing: Mr. Ti Yu Hang, Mr. Hans Leong, Mr. Shawn Wong, Mr. Chandra Kumar; seated: Ms. Lim Chuu Fong and Dr. Ong Ching Ang. Thank you so much for a insightful and lively discussion!
Interesting questions were raised by staff, students and members of the public for discussion.