PADANG LEMBU, Kedah: More than 400 guests attended the groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of DSTE Capital Limited’s first phase of MD2 pineapple planting.
The first phase sees the planting of 100 acres of MD2 pineapple in DSTE owned farms in Padang Lembu, Kedah where 1 acre of land could plant 20,000 MD2 pineapple plants, bringing a total of two million MD2 pineapple plants in DSTE farms.
“This is just the first step to the deploying of smart farming technologies in all DSTE owned farms,” DSTE Capital Limited CFO Dr Chin Kuen Liang said.
“In the next six to 12 months, we intend to plant 1,000 acres of MD2 pineapple, meaning a total of 20 millions of MD2 pineapple plants will be planted in DSTE-owned farms across various states in Malaysia. All MD2 pineapple seeds in DSTE farms are legally obtained from Malaysia Pineapple Industry Board and its produce is qualified to be exported overseas.
“At the moment, the demand is high from China and we are only able to supply 7% of the total MD2 pineapple market in China. The market is still growing and there is a lot of potential.”
Upon completion of the 1,000 acres planting across DSTE farms, DSTE Capital Limited will be the largest producer of MD2 pineapples in Malaysia.
Besides solving the issue of demand, DSTE Capital Limited is also aiming at resolving the lack of MD2 pineapple seeds in the plantation market.
As one MD2 pineapple plant could produce four seeds and one-acre land could accommodate 20,000 MD2 pineapple plants, in 16 months, this would result in additional 80,000 seeds for farmers to start their MD2 pineapple farming. In the long run, this will resolve the problem of shortage of MD2 pineapple seeds and increase the productivity of MD2 pineapple.
The ceremony was officiated by Sungai Petani MP and Gurun State Assemblyman Datuk Johari Abdul. He is also the Kedah state chairman of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and chairman as well as PKR Chief Whip for Government Backbenchers Council.
Johari said that he welcomes private companies to collaborate with Kedah state government to improvise on the farming technology. He said that under 12th Malaysia plan, Malaysia government has emphasised on the use of technology and the implementation of modern agricultural practices to increase the supply of vegetables and fruits, reduce dependency on imports and up the export of vegetables overseas.
With DSTE Capital Limited’s DSTE Chain, it provides a complete cycle from crop yields, traceability to smart farming. The use of cutting-edge technology provided by DSTE would help farmers, government, businesses and consumers to monitor the entire farm-to-fork value chain.
