Teknologi Pengeluaran Tanaman
Untuk entry kali ni, lebih kepada perkongsian la mengenai lawatan kami untuk subjek TPT yang diajar oleh Puan Mandy. Subjek ni merupakan teras HG23, so wajib ambil lah. oh ya, perkongsian ni adalah dalam bahasa English sebab report dalam English jadi alang-alanglah hahaha. Bah selamat membaca... Kepada junior-junior nanti, manatau lawatan kita di tempat yang sama, mungkin ini boleh jadi info tambahan kamu tapi tolong jangan copy paste.. orait.. semoga membantu...
On the 24th and 25th October 2016, students from HG23 Plantation and Agroforestry program had conducted a visit to 4 places which are Babagon Indah Agriculture Station, Bethel Garden, Babagon Fisheries Station and Tagal Tinopikon Park, all of these places are located in the same district which is in Penampang. 33 students were involved and they were accompanied by 2 staff members of SPTA.
Babagon Indah Agriculture Station
This is the first place that we visited. It is located in the village of Babagon KM26, Moyong-Tambunan road, Penampang. It have 38 acre of land for it’s usage. when first established, this station only produce chosen seedlings that had been grafted and other fruiting trees. However at the end of 2004 this station has been known as Babagon Indah Herbal Station which means they also start producing herbs. There only 8 staffs working in this station.
The station’s objectives is to increase the station’s local and exotic collection of herbs and also to preserve and conserve the herbs from extinction. They produce herbs for the station’s and people’s usage and to encourage farmers and entrepreneurs to plant herbs commercially or for their own use.
From the tour led by Mr Martinus the station chief. He told us that the station functions as herb collection place. Some of the herbs that can be found there are “Misai kucing” and aloe vera. This place also contributes to the agro-tourism industry, due to it’s beautiful location and landscape. Tourists and visitors will have the chance to learn how to plant herbs and fruits. In relation with the statement above, Babagon Agriculture Station provides courses on agricultural practices to people that are interested. During our visit, Mr Martinus teaches us how to graft and marcot a plant properly. He demonstrates the correct techniques and practices and also give some tips. The plant grafting techniques that he taught us was the wedge grafting and shoot grafting, both of this techniques has it’s different purposes. Mr Martinus said that grafting speeds up the growing process and it enable us to determine the type and quality of fruits we wanted. Shoot grafting can be use for plants with hard stem such as mango and rambutan while wedge grafting is suitable for durian. Finally the station also contribute to the state government income by producing and selling over 2000 grafted trees and 3000 herbs yearly. All of those plants produced by only 8 workers including Mr Martinus.
At the end of the tour we learned that agriculture is really important to the country, not only it provide us with jobs and foods, it also helps with the conservation of nature. After learning the correct techniques for marcotting and grafting we were eager to apply this skills during our practical back in UMS. For those who wants to learn new techniques for agriculture or just buy seedling to plant, Babagon Agriculture Station is one of the best place to visit.
Bethel Garden can be found by the roadside at Kg. Pogunon on Tambunan-KK road, Penampang. They first started at 2010 mainly for research and development, trying to find the best way to culture the best fungi. Now on 2016 they have 2 establishments which are in Tuaran and in Penampang. The Penampang establishment is mainly for the incubation and spawning period, due to the pristine, cool and damp surrounding, the perfect conditions for mushroom to grow. While the Tuaran establishment is for preparing the mushroom bag and post-harvest management. The establishment is managed by Mr. Wong See Kiat.
The tour started with having our lunch prepared by the Bethel Garden’s staff. We were served with food made from their own products which are mushrooms and organic chicken. After that, the explained the process of growing the mushroom from colonies inside a petri dish into something we eat on our plate. The first process is the cultivation of mother culture, which means tissue from mushrooms are taken or cut usually from the inside of the stem. Then it is put into a petri dish which contains a media made from potato starch. This process is to ensure the quality of each product produced. The next is process is the preparation of media. The media is consist of 13-18% of organic matter while the remaining are sawdust. It contains wheat grain and rice grain for better mushroom growth.
Here in Bethel garden they prepare the media in the form of cylindrical blocks to save space. After the media is prepared the culture is put into the media, this process is called inoculation. After that the incubation process occur. The blocks are left to incubate for at least 2-3 months before the fruiting can happen. During this time, the the blocks are put into a dark and cool area. They use water sprays attached on the ceilings to maintain the moisture level in that area. After the mushroom had been harvested, the next step is post harvest management in which they clean, weigh and package their mushrooms to be distributed.
From this trip we learned that mushroom cultivation is a recycle industry because most of the resources used is renewable. Besides, Bethel Garden practices mixed farming which is a really efficient method in agriculture. For example, the excess mushroom is used to feed the maggots. The maggots will become a fly leaving decomposed organic matter which then be used for the mushroom block.
The chickens are provided with ganoderma mixed water and fed with corns and organic pellets. The waste material produced by the chicken is then dried and become one of the medium for the mushroom blocks. We will try to apply this mixed farming practice not just because it is good for the economy, it is also beneficial to the environment. We also learned how important fungi are to the planet. Examples are they together with bacteria are responsible for most of the recycling which returns dead material to the soil in a form in which it can be reused . Some fungi are safe to be eaten so they are considered as a form a food source in which both humans and animals can eat.. Fungi also function as a medicine, one of the mushroom at Bethel Garden which is called Ganoderm can prevent pancer, urinary tract Infections and prevents Parkinson's disease. In my opinion Bethel Garden is a great place to visit and learn about mixed farming and mushroom cultivation.
The tour started with having our lunch prepared by the Bethel Garden’s staff. We were served with food made from their own products which are mushrooms and organic chicken. After that, the explained the process of growing the mushroom from colonies inside a petri dish into something we eat on our plate. The first process is the cultivation of mother culture, which means tissue from mushrooms are taken or cut usually from the inside of the stem. Then it is put into a petri dish which contains a media made from potato starch. This process is to ensure the quality of each product produced. The next is process is the preparation of media. The media is consist of 13-18% of organic matter while the remaining are sawdust. It contains wheat grain and rice grain for better mushroom growth.
Here in Bethel garden they prepare the media in the form of cylindrical blocks to save space. After the media is prepared the culture is put into the media, this process is called inoculation. After that the incubation process occur. The blocks are left to incubate for at least 2-3 months before the fruiting can happen. During this time, the the blocks are put into a dark and cool area. They use water sprays attached on the ceilings to maintain the moisture level in that area. After the mushroom had been harvested, the next step is post harvest management in which they clean, weigh and package their mushrooms to be distributed.From this trip we learned that mushroom cultivation is a recycle industry because most of the resources used is renewable. Besides, Bethel Garden practices mixed farming which is a really efficient method in agriculture. For example, the excess mushroom is used to feed the maggots. The maggots will become a fly leaving decomposed organic matter which then be used for the mushroom block.
Babagon Fisheries Station
On the second day, we visited Babagon Fisheries Station which is located in Babagon, Moyong-Tambunan road, Penampang just next to Babagon Agricultural Station. Established in the 1960’s, they breed their fish in simple ponds. However, in 2013 they started to become the site for ornamental fish cultivation. Pristine waters in nearby rivers and clean environment make the condition for cultivating fish is very suitable.
Mr Gidius who was the one who briefed and explained to us said that this station is responsible for cultivating freshwater ornamental fish and taking care of it until it reaches a certain age that is eligible to be sold or distributed. The fish that they breed here are from the Caprinidae, Anabantidae, Poeciliidae, Characidae, Serrasalmidae, Chichlidae and Ogglosidae. The reason why they are cultivating ornamental fish is because of the market and potential Mr Gidius also explain the functions of this station, which are they provide and teach local people or anyone that is interested in learning cultivation of fish. They also do research and development for fish, examples of the fish that undergo research and development at the station are Empurau and Pelian.
After the briefing, we went on to the tour by walking around the station. In the research and development site we learned that the fish are sensitive and need extra care. Their foods are not normal pallets because it has been injected with vitamin. Empurau which is one of the species being research is native to Sarawak. It is a very popular fish and some consider it as a delicacy. However releasing this fish into Sabah’s water can cause ecological problem because it may disturb the food chain. Other fish that can be found there are Koi, guppy and Kelisa.
We learned that not only Babagon Fisheries Station can contribute to the economy, they also contribute to the conservation and preservation of local freshwater fish.
Tagal Tinopikon Park
Tagal Tinopikon Park can be found on Tambunan-Penampang road in Notoruss village. It is located beside the Babagon river. Tagal in the various Dusun languages of Sabah translates loosely as ‘don’t take’ and a stretch of river that is declared tagal is thus off limits for fishing. Tagal areas often include lotung, when stretches where the river is particularly deep and ideal for fish breeding. The idea is to allow nature to replenish its fish-stock naturally, and disturbing a tagal area is enforced through the Native Court and heavy fines can be imposed, ranging from money over chicken and pigs to buffaloes for the most serious transgressions. Basically tagal simply means no fishing zone. The river is consisted of 3 main zones which are the red zone, yellow zone and the green zone. The red zone is the zone which is the main zone where the fish lives. Fishing and playing in the water is strictly prohibited because it may cause disturbance to the fish. However, visitors can get into the water and feed the fishes. The yellow zone is the place where the fish can be harvested but only at certain times. According to one of the villagers, they harvest the fish usually once a year and sometimes once every two years depending on the population of the fish. The fish that are caught are distributed to the local communities and some are taken by the Fishery Department. While the green zone is the place where people can play in the water and enjoy themselves. 
The fish that lives in the river are Pelian fish. Before the tagal system was introduced, the Pelian fish was over-fished causing the population to dwindle, but after the system was introduced together with the help of the Fishery Department the fish population rose steadily until now. The park’s facilities and beautiful area attracts visitors help promote the tagal system as well as the preservation and conservation of fish.
Conclusion
We managed to learn the organizations that is involved in agriculture such as Agriculture Department and Fishery Department. These organizations cooperate with other government and non-government organization to ensure success in the future. We managed to learn many skills such as marcoting and grafting which later can be applied later on in our course. We also learned how to harvest fish eggs the be cultivated later on. From this fieldtrip we also found out the future prospects in agriculture such as forestry, fishery and agriculture. I think this fieldtip is a success and we hope will have another succesful fieldtrip in the future.
Comments
Post a Comment