A team of GET-BS Academic Associates has brought Internet of Things (IoT)-based smart farming systems and fertigation know-how to rural farmers in Pahang, helping to improve productivity, sustainability, and incomes for Bumiputera communities — especially B40 households.

The initiative — a collaboration between GET-BS experts, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA), and the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (TERAJU) — supports 45 small and medium entrepreneurs in Kuantan, Pekan, Maran, and Temerloh through the Bumiputera Entrepreneur Development Fund Programme (DPUB). Since its launch in 2021, DPUB participants have secured RM2.27 million in TERAJU funding, coordinated by the Centre for Industry & Community Linkages (PJIM), to scale up chili and eggplant production for local markets.

The team includes Dr. Ahmad Najmuddin Ibrahim and Dr. Muhammad Amirul Abdullah (Faculty of Manufacturing & Mechatronic Engineering Technology), Dr. Nor Hanuni Ramli@Said (Faculty of Chemical & Process Engineering Technology), and Dr. Nurul Ashykin Abd Aziz (Head of Entrepreneurship Programme, Faculty of Industrial Management).

Their IoT-based system features:

1. A user-friendly automated control box for water and fertiliser irrigation
2. Sensors to detect tank levels, soil moisture, condition, and temperature
3. An integrated IoT platform allowing farmers to monitor and control crop inputs manually or automatically, even via mobile phone

To support implementation, over 1,000 fertigation polybags, large water tanks, fertilisers, insecticides, disease-control chemicals, and other supplies have been provided to participating farmers.

By improving precision irrigation and fertiliser mixing, the system boosts farm efficiency and crop quality. In Kampung Bentan, Pekan — where the system is being trialled on 0.5 acres of 3,000 eggplant trees and 1,000 chili plants — GET-BS associates are demonstrating how advanced technology can directly uplift rural agriculture.