Category: Natural Farming EN

SANGGA SINAYAH: Integrating the Environment and Agriculture into the Lives of Students For the past decade, former Head Master, Sangga Sinnayah has been receiving praise and accolades for his work in introducing agroecological concepts, instilling environmental awareness and practising organic farming in the schools he taught. Although environmental education is progressively taking root in the...

Empowering the Differently Abled with Agriculture Most of the learning centres meant for the differently abled provide skills training for their inmates. However, the welfare centre for the differently abled (Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Kurang Upaya) at Jalan USJ 18/7, Subang Jaya, Selangor, has gone one step further to equip them with agricultural knowledge. The centre firmly believes it is...

CAP's NATURAL FARMING TRAINING for the Students of MYSKILLS FOUNDATION (Part 3) Incorporating agroecology into all educational institutions would be one effective way for the next generation to continuously carry the seeds of transformation. Educational institutions provide space and time for expanding environmental initiatives. A deeper understanding of the ecological facts, challenges, and the...

MYSKILLS FOUNDATION: What the Students Learn (Part 2) In MySkills Foundation, students learn the following: 1. Basics of livestock farming. Vakesh Rao not only learned to rear cows but also to build the cow shed. He also learned to grow napier grass, which is a popular fodder for cows due to the high nitrogen content of the grass. “In the beginning, I felt meaningless with all these...

MYSKILLS FOUNDATION is Sowing the Seeds for Transformation (Part 1) It has become a norm for educational institutions to conduct environmental activities in order to create awareness about the environment among their students. However, in most instances, the intention is to fulfil the requirements of the syllabus of the institution rather than be an effective, long-term activity to improve the...

The following is the message by CAP President Mohideen Abdul Kader in the preface of the new CAP book, “Agroecology for All: Initiatives in Malaysia”: AGROECOLOGY has been an intrinsic part of our lives ever since the human race started cultivating its own food. The term agroecology has been in use since the 1920s when scientists first applied ecological principles to agriculture,...

Since its inception, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has focused on raising consumer awareness. However, the turn of the century marked a new exploration for CAP. We took the timely step of introducing agroecology as another fundamental means of raising consumers' awareness of their food consumption. Though terms like “organic”, “natural”, and “chemical-free” have been used...

Ants can reduce pests on a level on par with pesticides, says a new study from Brazil. Researchers looked at 52 studies on 17 different crops. The crops included citrus, mango, soya cauliflower, cotton, and sweet potatoes, grown in countries including the US, the UK, Brazil, and Australia. Ants were found to be efficient at keeping a range of pests at bay. The more diverse the ant population was,...

When 80-year-old Ch'ng Ah Bee first heard that the Senior Citizens Association in Scotland Road, Penang was going to start an eco-farm, she was more than excited as she can now put her gardening skills to good use. "I used to live in a landed property and had space to have my own little garden where I planted a lot of vegetation,” Ch'ng said. "But when I moved to a condominium, space was...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has been propagating natural farming practices for the past few years.  Realising the danger of pesticide to human health and the environment, CAP has been educating farmers and the general public on the dangers of pesticide, besides recommending and demonstrating safe and productive natural farming practices. Integrated farming is one way of getting...