Posted by: azizun on Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 03:01 PM
 
 Pulau Pinang - Malaysia needs to develop new banana varieties and production systems in order to be a major player in the global production and export of bananas.

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Kerk Choo Ting said this could be done through new technologies and international collaborative research.

He said this when opening the International Banana Congress 2004 in Pulau Pinang.

These new technologies could be in the form of development of new varieties, new production systems, pest and disease management, post harvest handling systems, minimal processing techniques and new product development.

Datuk Seri Kerk said the technologies must be consumer oriented to ensure that the end products, either the fruits or the processed products, would meet customers' taste.

Malaysia as a tropical country had been blessed with many varieties of crops and tropical fruits including banana and hence it should also play an active role in developing its home grown technologies.

He said to date, researchers at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology (MINT), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) have developed various technologies to support the banana industry.

Datuk Seri Kerk noted that the Malaysian private sector had shown keen interest in banana research and had contributed towards the development of improved varieties and production of quality planting materials.

He added that although Malaysia had a lot of potential to develop the industry, it was still not a major player in the global production and export market with exports fluctuating between 20,000 tonnes and 35,000 tonnes annually between 1989 and 2002.

Datuk Seri Kerk said to be able to penetrate the export market, Malaysian fruits must be globally competitive and adhere to the importing country's requirements as well as consumer and market preferences.

Participants to the first ever "Banana Congress" will discuss all aspects of banana research including genetic resources and improvement, plant protection, sustaining the natural resource base in banana cropping system, post harvest and processing technologies, innovation and commercialization.

Some 300 banana experts from 41 countries are attending the four-day meeting, jointly organised by Mardi, the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP), UM, UPM, Synergy Farm Sdn Bhd and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institution.

RTM