5G: Game-changer in smart agriculture, tackle food security issues

In an exclusive interview with Bernama, Head IT Infrastructure (Advanced Agriculture Technology and Data) of Sime Darby Plantation, Vijayaananth Arumugam said the 5G is crucial for agriculture because the technology provides energy-efficient operation, while reducing the dependency on human labour.

"5G is merging the concept of managing farms, plantations with Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and drones as a way to smart agriculture. (Through which) We can increase the quality and also the quantity (of productions).

"This is also optimising the human labour...The locals are not interested to harvest the palm oil fruit anymore and we are in the process of optimising it with the drone technology, robotics and that also helps to monitor the health and measurement of palm trees," he said.

Smart agriculture or E-agriculture refers to the usage of technologies like IoT, sensors, location systems, robots and artificial intelligence on farms.

According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), a total of 500 5G locations have been completed under phase 1A as of December 2021, covering areas in Cyberjaya, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, while phase 1B would see another rollout of 3,518 5G sites by year-end.

Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), the government-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the 5G rollout, is committed to an accelerated schedule to roll out 5G coverage to 80 per cent of the population by 2024.

Vijayaananth also opined that the smart agriculture will help to address the food security or food supply issues in Malaysia because 5G will fasten the process of producing more quality and quantity of products to consumers with the help of digital devices.

"With 5G, farmers can get more efficient way in getting soil data and fast-forward (expedite) the production. With better data analytics, they know which soil is the best, what seeds is the best, when to harvest. All this is playing a crucial role when come to digitalisation farming," he added.

This is also in line with the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) which is formulating the Modern Agriculture Strategy in strengthening the food security agenda.

The development of 5G technology which is a key supporting component of modern agriculture is being accelerated in Iskandar Malaysia to address the food supply issue in the country.

Furthermore, he said the deployment of 5G also creates job for the people with the rollout being on track and to pull more graduates to venture in this smart agriculture because the country still need manpower to operate drones, robotics and data analytics ,not only in the agriculture sector, but also in various industries.

While applauding the government's effort in transforming Malaysia into digital approach, including through the National Digital Network Plan (JENDELA) on building new communication towers across the nation and upgrading existing networks to 4G technology, he also hoped that the government will fasten the rollout of 5G throughout the country, especially in rural areas.

This is because the agriculture activity which is one of the backbones of Malaysia's economy, mostly took place in urban areas and it needs good network line to operate enhanced technology devices for farming or plantation.

According to him, the government also needs to provide sufficient materials, on-field training and knowledge transfer session from other countries to Malaysian farmers for them to adapt the new transformation, especially among the old generation of farmers.