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FIATVolume 2, Issue 11 December 2013The Official Newsletter for the Faculty of Agro-Based Industry

My

Advisor:

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Anwar Ismail

Editor:

Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin

Technical:

Nik Ahmad Fakruddin Nik Zulkefli

Mohd Salbaharin Ismail

MyFIATFaculty of Agro-Based Industry

Universit i Malaysia Kelantan, Jel i CampusLocked Bag 10017600 Jel iKelantan, MALAYSIA.Tel: 09 - 947 7021Fax: 09 - 947 7022website: www.f iat.umk.edu.myemail : haf iz@umk.edu.my

The recent tragedies inLata Renyek and LataTembakah is a greatreminder to everyone thatextra precaution shouldbe made wherever we go.Both these places althoughare beautiful recreational

areas, the water althoughlooks calm, can be deceiv-ing. both Lata renyek andLata tembakah are wellknown to claim the lives ofothers. Although it isnormal to go. with theraining season, it is advis-

able not to go these areas,as the water level is knownto increase suddenly,although when it is notraining, as water bodiesmay come from possibleunderground reservoirthats is full. The same goes

(cont. on pg 2)

Page

4

3-4

2

1-2

1

FIAT retreat

Biodiversity inAgriculturalEcoystems

MPN Congress

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Dangers lurking

Academic TalkSeries

Weeding Out

2

Condolence

Upcoming events

Faces in FIAT

4

4

4

Dangers lurking by Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin

WEEDING OUT

Prof. Dr. Sarker Moham-mad Rezaul Karim givingthe Professorial talk held

at UMK, PengkalanChepa Campus

Prof. Dr. Sarker Moham-mad Rezaul Karim was thefirst speaker in the 18series Professorial Talk incollaboration with theNational Professor Coun-cil (MPN).The talk was held

at the UMK PengkalanChepa Campus on the 16thNovember was officiated bythe Vice Chancellor, Prof.Datuk Dr. Raduan Che Rose.

The talk given by Prof.Rezaul Karim entitled how

the weeds affect us all, andwhat is the way out?focused on his currentresearch on alien invadingweed 'PartheniumHysterophorusand its effecton agriculture produce and

health threats to bothanimal and man. Apart fromthe talk on Parthenium,academic accomplishmentby Prof. Rezaul Karim wasalso displayed to be viewdby the audience.

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Volume 2, Issue 11 December 2013

Advisor:

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Anwar Ismail

Editor:

Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin

Technical:

Nik Ahmad Fakruddin Nik Zulkefli

Mohd Salbaharin Ismail

MyFIAT

Faculty of Agro Based Industry

Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus

Locked Bag 100

17600 Jeli

Kelantan, MALAYSIA.

Tel: 09 - 947 7021

Fax: 09 - 9467158

email: hafiz@umk.edu.my

MyFIAT2 3

Dangers lurking(cont. from pg 1)o the agropark here on campus. The

tream that divides the campus andgropark is known to suddenly surgen water level during heavy rain, and

may cause sudden flood in the closeproximity. The number of times theoads that interconnect the agropark

had to be rebuild show how danger-ous and strong the flow of water canbe. As it has been almost 2 years Jelihas been in operation, the kampusmanagement must look seriously intohe safety issues on campus itself, andhould come out with a long termtrategy with consultation with the

Department of Irrigation and Drain-geto minismise the potential threat

of sudden water surge. The develo-pent of the agropark should be com-pleted in one go to enure both safty

and security of the affected areassuch as proper fencing, land distribu-tion, effiecient drainage system, andcontinues surveliance to preventlost of produce. Budget allocationwill only go to waste if the develop-ment of the agropark is incomplete

and the indecisiveness to prepare a com-plete Agropark for student projects, orshowcase farms is not tackled can beobserve in the coming raining season. Therecent continous rain in late November andearly December has been stressfull espe-cially to student companies and final yearstudents who are dependent on theagropark. Little has to be said also on the

condition of faculty buildings, lecturerooms, lecturers room, facilities and toilets.Broken ceilings, extruding metel pieces,mold, water dripping from air conditonsystem, broken chairs and tables. Toilets arenot well maintained with broken seats andwater dripping from the washrooom fromthe higher floor. Meanwhile, with the com-plete of the cabin space, work still need to

be done to ensurefacilities that can acco-madate over 60 staff,and a student centre

has a complete Occu-pation Safety andHealth (OSH) StandardOperating Procedure(SOP) put in place incases of emergencies.With the raining season

just begining,will seemore unesacerry incon-venieces incurred. It is

I had the opportunity to take part in

the recent Majlis Professor Negara

(MPN) from the 9 to 10 November

2013 at Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur.

The theme of the congress was

Gagasan Penyatupaduan Nasional

or National Reconciliation covering 5

issues on the concept and

challenges in solidaroty and unity,

socia-economic justice, science and

education, identity and patriotisme,

MPN Congress by Akmal Adilah Idris

Biodiversity refers to the range ofdifferent living organisms and theirenvironments. It is often catego-rized or defined by three mainlevels : genes, species and ecosys-tems with each linked and interde-pendent of the other.Biodiversity isthe foundation of ecosystem servicescontributing to food provisioningthrough crop and genetic biodiver-sity. In addition, biodiversity throughecological functional contributes toregulating services, such as pollina-tion, invasion resistance, naturalbiological control, and pest anddisease regulation. For instance, lossin species richness of bees and hover-fly (syrphids) is directly linked to lossin pollination service. However, thegreatest losses in biodiversity world-wide have been attributed to theexpansion and intensification ofagriculture and land use is often char-acterized by a transformation of com-plex ecosystems and landscapes intosimple ones, resulting in reducedbiodiversity.

Nevertheless, agriculturalland use does not just mean habitatdestruction. Bambaradeniya et. al(2004) reported 494 species of inver-tebrates belonging to 10 phyla, 103species of vertebrates, 89 species ofmacrophytes, 39 genera of micro-phytes and 3 species of macrofungi

from an irrigated rice field ecosystemin Sri Lanka. The aquatic organismsfound in the rice fields of Sri Lankacovers the entire spectrum of freshwater invertebrates, and that arthro-

pods are the main terrestrial faunalspecies. About 130 species ofphytophagous insects have beenrecorded in Sri Lankas rice fields.More than 50 % of the terrestrialarthropod species in Sri Lanka ricefields consisted of predators, withspiders being the dominant preda-tory group. About 103 species ofvertebrates recorded from anirrigated rice field ecosystem in SriLanka. Rice fields in Sri Lanka havealso been recorded as importantman-made habitats for amphibians.Among flora, more than 340 speciesof weeds have been recorded fromthe Sri Lanka rice fields. Later, inanother study, Bambaradeniya andEdirisinghe (2008) reported terrestrialarthropod fauna in rice agro-

ecosystem comprising 282 species ofinsects in 90 families and 17 Orders;60 species of arachnids in 14 familiesconstituting a total of 342 arthropodspecies were recorded from the riceagro-ecosystems.

Meanwhile, in Muda riceagroecosystem in Malaysia, Nashriyahet al. (1998) provided data on thedistribution and abundance of terres-trial and aquatic weeds (25 species,15 families), insect and arachnids (36families, 10 orders), fish (39 species,21 families) and birds (11 species, 8families). In Malaysia, work done byBruhl and Eltz (2008) had shown thattotal of 23 species ground-dwellingforest ants were recorded along ninetransects in four oil palm plantationsin Eastern Sabah. Most speciesbelonged to the subfamily Myrmici-nae ( 11 species ) followed by Dolich-oderinae and Formicinae ( fivespecies each ).

Recent studies found thatthere are pollutions occurring in ourrice argoecosystem. In the watersystem of the rice fields of the Mudaarea, where different irrigationsystems namely non-recycled (N-RCL)and recycled (RCL) water were prac-tised, more than 79% of the watersamples contained the herbicidepollutants (Sapari & Ismail, 2012).Others determine the residues of

Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystemsby Tan Chew Fen and Kumara, T. K.Academic talk series by Zulhisyam Abdul Kari @ Abdullah

The first topic for the academic

talk was given by Dr Soon Jan Mei,

entitled "Early Warning-Rapid

Alert (EWRA) and Horizontal Scan-

ning (HS) in Foods Safety". She

also shared her the opportunity

she had attending a technical

meeting at the Food and Agricul-

globalisation and the strenght of

the countrys scholars. The result

of the resolution was later submit-

ted to the Prime Minister, YAB

Dato Seri Mohd Najib Tun Hj.

Abdul Razak, at the Majlis Makan

Malam Bicara Perdana, on 10

November 2013.

Picture on the right. Akmal

Adilah Idris with the regent of

Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah

ture Organization (FAO) on issues

pertaining to food safety and

food borne diseases in Europe,

with the content mostly focusing

on issues currently faced by Euro-pean countries. The second talk

was given by Dr. Kassim Buhiran

entitled "Increasing Your Income

Through Investment in Stock

Market". As an investor himself,

He shared shared his broad expe-

riences on the effective ways toprofit from stock market and how

to make the assessment.

Dr KassimBuhiran (picon the right,and Dr. SoonJan Mei (picon the leftb o t t o m )d is cus s iongtheir topics

high time a proper occupationalsafety and health officer beappointed to identify potentialhazards and assist the universitymaintainence. With this in mind, FIAThas taken the initiative to set up anOSH committee to look into safetyand health issues in the everydayactivities at the faculty level. Hope-

fully, the higher university manage-ment would coorperate and providethe assistance needed to ensure basicwelfare standard is maintained andbe put on the priority list. It is hopedalso that 2014 will see the universitygrow bigger and stronger whileensuring quality standard environ-ment for both study and work.

Nice but dangerous?Animal food wastedwater cloggedB a l a n c i n g

act & hole in

the floor

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MyFIAT

Upcoming events

4

Faces in FIAT

Volume 2, Issue 11 December 2013

Semester September 2013/2014 Final Exam

29 December 2013- 14 January 2014

Karnival Industri Asas Tani (UMK Kampus Jeli)May 2014

Nor Dini Rusli

MPhil (University of Nottingham, UK)BSc (Science and Management University)

Research Interest: Equine Infection And

Immunity, Biomedicine

DANIEL ANAK GELLO

BSc (Universiti Malaysia Kelantan)

Position: (young lecturer)

Research Interest: Dairy

2,4-D and paraquat in the rice fieldsoil and surface water of the drainagecanals in the Kerian district of Perak,Malaysia and found both herbicidesleached downward to the depth of 5cm in clay loam soil on the first dayafter treatment (Ismail, et al., 2011).Intensive use of agrochemicals tofurther enhance yield performance is

inevitable, and the practice is becom-ing widespread among farmers. Thepertaining issue is, whats the impactof the use of agrochemicals towardsthe fauna and flora biodiversity? To

protect and conserve the diversity ofglobal biological species, conserva-tion measures have to be employed.Achieving the goals of biodiversityconservation required an integrativeapproach that recognizes not onlythe need for scientific rigour but alsothe societal nature of conservationand it need for political, economic,

and social support. Therefore, letsplay our role in protecting our biodi-versity from today.ReferencesBambaradeniya, C. N. B., & Edirisinghe, J. P. (2008). Composition,

Structure and Dynamics of Arthropod Communities in a Rice

Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems (cont. from pg 3)Agro-Ecosystem. Journal of Biosciences, 37(1), pp.23-48.

Bambaradeniya, C. N. B., Edirisinghe, J. P., De Silva, D. N.,

Gunatilleke, C. V. S., Ranawana, K. B., & Wijekoon, S. (2004).

Biodiversity and Conservation.

Bruhl, C. A., & Eltz, T. (2008). Fuelling the biodiversity crisis:

species loss of ground-dwelling forest ants in oil palm

plantations in Sabah, Malaysia ( Borneo ) Biodiversity Conserva-

tion, 19, pp.519-529.

Ismail, B., Sameni, M., & Halimah, M. (2011). Evaluation of

herbicide pollution in the Kerian ricefields of Perak, Malaysia.

World Applied Sciences Journal, 15(1), pp.05-13.

Nashriyah, B. N., Ho, N. K., Ismail, B. S., Ahyaudin, B. A., & Lum, K.

Y. (1998). Rice agroecosystem of the Muda Irrigation Scheme,

Malaysia. Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (

MINT ) and Muda Agricultural Development Authority ( MADA )

255.

Sapari, P., & Ismail, B. (2012). Pollution levels of thiobencarb,

propanil and pretilachlor in rice fields of the muda irrigation

scheme, Kedah, Malaysia. Environmental Monitoring and

Assessment, 184(10), pp.6347-6356.

CONDOLENCEFIAT RETREATby Mohd Hafizie Abd Rahman

FIAT recently held its retreat from the

10 to 12 December 2013 at Camer-

oon Highland, Pahang. Although the

dates fell on a public holiday did not

deter the staff in attending theretreat, since the focus was to ensure

FIAT is always on the right track. Both

academic staff and administrative

staff sat down to discuss the future

direction of the faculty for 2014. the

retreat was also an opportunity for

for the programmes to sit down and

evaluate the course content to

ensure everything is up to date and

relevant, in line with the goals and

aspiration of the university and need

of the country.

Lecturers from SBP in deepdiscussion

Although no words can really help to

ease the loss, just know that the

fellow friends who were lost are very

close in every thoughts and prayers.

May their family keep their strength

to face these hardship on the lost ofVikneswaran a/l Balakrishnan (22,

Sungai Petani, Kedah); Janathan a/l

Umabaithy (22, Taiping,Perak); and

Manoharaj a/l Madhanra (22, Negeri

Sembilan) on the 4th October at Lata

Tembakah, Terengganu. Also to famil-

lies and friends on the lost of Mohd

Azeem Sameer Noor Azmi (21, Selan-

gor) dan Mohd Zulfikal Mohd Saupi

(20, Kelantan) on the 15th November

at Lata Renyuk, Jeli, Kelantan.