70-year-old reaps reward for his cucumber innovation

PUTRAJAYA: His creativity in solving a clogged “fertigation” system doubled the harvest of cucumbers at his farm and won a 70-year-old farmer a top award for innovation.
Salleh Ngah, who lives in Kampung Sura Hujung in Dungun, Terengganu, was also said to have slashed the maintenance cost at his farm by half.
“The Anugerah Inovasi Teknologi Petani (Technology Innovation by Farmers Award) is an acknowledgment of creative and innovative farmers who have succeeded in producing a method to help them in their daily work.

Innovative read: Raihan (centre) getting a closer look at the Plantations Department’s Innovation Book, which was launched at Wisma Tani.

“Winning ideas will attract the attention of other farmers, who may also adopt the new techniques or tools to increase their productivity,” said Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry deputy sectretary-general (planning division) Raihan Sharif, who presented the award to Salleh at an award ceremony in Wisma Tani.
Salleh had suspended his farm's irrigation system to allow free movement of liquid in his fertigation project.
Fertigation is a technique used to apply dissolved fertiliser to crops through an irrigation system.
The simple modification of irrigation had increased the cucumber harvest from 5kg per polybag to 10kg per polybag.
The ceremony also saw eight other awards being given away to ministry staff who have shown exemplary achievement in their respective fields.
A compilation of innovative ideas by the Agriculture Department were documented in the book Inovasi-Inovasi Jabatan Pertanian 1995-2010, which was also launched at the ceremony.