Urban farming on agenda for land-scarce Penang

GEORGE TOWN – Penang aims to have 100 community farms in the next five years, and is exploring available pockets of land for the purpose.

Despite the current land shortage, which has prompted the state to approve three major reclamation projects, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is optimistic that the community farming concept is sustainable.

“We hope to spur interest in the concept of urban farming, which can produce organic vegetables,” said Chow, who also grows his own greens at the chief minister’s official residence in Macalister Road here.

Recently, the Chief Minister Inc-owned PDL 1 building, which houses the Digital Library next to Penang Free School, reserved 2,000 sq ft to cultivate spinach, bok choi, cabbage, brinjal and long beans. Artificial intelligence (AI) sensors are used to help boost the yield rate.

The project is part of the Penang 2030 Vision, added Chow.

The urban farming initiative seeks to emulate the success of the cultivation of vanilla at the agro park in Permatang Pauh – a first for the country.

Urban renewal specialist Think City Sdn Bhd has provided RM35,000 to fund the use of AI in the agricultural system.

CMI deputy general manager Bharathi Suppiah said 60% of the produce will be given to the underprivileged, and the remainder sold to the public to cover operational costs.

The Kebun Kita(r) project, which receives technical support from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris and Think City, is now open to the public.

The farm will feature a raised garden bed, a vertical aquaponic system and an economical food waste composter that will be fed garden and food waste from the Penang Free School canteen and an in-house cafe.

To kick-start the project, Penang contributed seeds and seedlings.

In line with the state’s green push, civil society groups have taken the lead to promote recycling.

Jo Sim, co-founder of Owl Bulk Store, a zero-waste grocery shop, believes that the lifestyle is not difficult to adopt.

After more than a year operating the store, she now works with Kedah Dairy to bring back the “milkman concept” to minimise the use of Tetra Pak and plastic containers, which have a big carbon footprint.

“We can get most grocery items unpackaged. We can go to the market and get unpackaged items if we bring our own containers.

“Pasteurised milk is the only thing I cannot find that is unpackaged. We can get raw milk from individual sellers, but they are not pasteurised. This may be a concern to some.”

Another consumer concern is price, she said.

“When looking to purchase eco-friendly items, Penangites will compare with the market price.

“So, when I was looking at the milkman concept, I felt like I needed to achieve the market price. But, it’s difficult as there’s an extra load on the supplier because they need to invest in bottles, sterilise them and remove the labels.”

In a Penang Green Council (PGC) survey conducted from June 4 to July 31, 52% of its 349 respondents reported an increase in waste production.

Another survey of 233 people showed that each household produced an estimated 5.66kg of waste per week during the movement control order (MCO) to curb Covid-19.

To reduce the amount of plastic packaging used during the MCO, PGC distributed 60,000 paper lunch boxes to the Penang Island City Council and Seberang Prai City Council for use by hawkers and food court operators.

The councils have also conducted awareness campaigns to encourage people to bring their own containers when ordering takeaway food.

Most sectors have taken a hit during the pandemic, but e-commerce platforms are among the few whose business is boosted.

With this in mind, PGC will rope in an online business to join a stakeholder consultation session to promote the “circular economy”.

An initiative focused on e-commerce waste is Second Life for Packaging Material, run on a volunteer basis by Yeap Yen Ying and Ang Ivy via Facebook.

“We have a regular list of items that we allow people to bring to our drop-off locations – parcel bags, bubble wrap, carton boxes, product boxes, A4 paper and A4-sized envelopes,” said Ivy.

The group collects 300l to 400l of such items each week, and they are passed on to businesses that will reuse them.

“We are always looking for takers, but not many businesses know how they can reuse parcel bags and other items,” said Ivy. – The Vibes, September 21, 2020