Thursday 25 February 2010, Bandar Seri Begawan – Agricultural production will have to be more intensive and at the same time cost-effective for it to be competitive and environmentally and climate-friendly, stressed the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources yesterday at a workshop held in Gadong.

"Agriculture must provide additional opportunities for economies to grow in an environment beset with climate change and environmental degradation," said Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar.

"Hence, national policies should place strong emphasis on creating a balanced approach to industrialisation and primary production, with the objective of achieving the ultimate goal of economic growth and food security," he added.

The minister was speaking during the opening of a workshop on "Modelling and Simulation: Agro-technology Opportunities", organised by Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) at the Centrepoint Hotel.

Pehin Dato Hj Yahya said that good and well-tested models could be very effective tools which serve as alternative production and agri-business strategies.

"They can help in identifying problems and prioritising further research in agricultural production, optimising precious resources by reducing the number of field experiments. Good models also assist in policy and strategy applications, and also act as an effective teaching tool," he said.

"I believe the opportunities of using modelling and simulation exist in all areas of agricultural production and agri-business, ranging from primary production and food processing," he added.

The minister also spoke of the current development of Brunei's Agro-Technology Park on a 500-hectare site, which will feature a Halal Science Centre, food development centre for research on agricultural products and innovations in value-added processing of the products, as well as an agri-business incubator.

He said that modelling and simulation could help to accelerate the process of agri-businesses tapping scientific and managerial resources towards the development of viable ventures by exploiting different technological approaches such as sophisticated computational techniques. It could also assist to examine and analyse complex food structure, simulate food processing and industrial processes and would also be a useful tool in analysing the organisation's network systems.

"Brunei Darussalam's current capabilities in research and development will be streamlined in the field of analytical services together with world-class technologies which use cutting-edge research through modelling and simulation and expertise to achieve the ultimate expertise," he said. "I am confident that UBD will have the commitment to support these initiatives for agro-technology opportunities through research and innovations, human resource development and professional services".

Pehin Dato Hj Yahya also hoped that yesterday's workshop would spur the active engagement of agro-entrepreneurs with increasing interest in commercial production of agri-business.

The one-day workshop invited experts from Australia and the Philippines to speak on existing modelling and simulation systems, as well as discuss recent advances in these areas of research. It was also a platform to brainstorm on the focus and future action plans of UBD's Modelling and Research Cluster.

The opening of the workshop was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, UBD Vice-Chancellor Dr Hj Zulkarnain Hj Hanafi as well as members of the research cluster and other academics.~ Courtesy of The Brunei Times



Related News : Simulation In Agro-Tech For National Food Security



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Writer: Ubaidillah Masli
Website: http://www.bt.com.bn

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