F
ood security has long been a strategic national priority for Malaysia, a country that remains heavily reliant on imports to meet domestic food demand.
However, challenges such as climate uncertainty and disruptions to global supply chains pose long-term risks to the nation’s food supply, underscoring the need for authorities to explore approaches that can ensure Malaysia is able to produce food sustainably for its people.
Agricultural biotechnology is increasingly seen as a key enabler in supporting the government’s efforts to strengthen national food security. Rising to this challenge is YSG Bioscape Sdn Bhd – a BioNexus-status subsidiary of Sabah Foundation – which specialises in plant tissue culture technology.
(BioNexus is a special status awarded by Bioeconomy Corporation Sdn Bhd, a bio-based industry development agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, to qualifying local and international biotechnology companies.)
CLONING
YSG Bioscape managing director Dr Doreen K.S. Goh said plant tissue culture technology is among the most effective approaches for producing high-quality crops to support the development of Malaysia’s agricultural sector.
The technology, she explained, goes beyond simple plant propagation, enabling the production of clones that possess the same genetic characteristics as the parent plant.
“YSG Bioscape was established with the objective of using tissue culture technology to produce high-quality crops. The (crop) species selected for propagation are based on their commercial value, market demand and supply potential.
“Currently, we are focusing on producing a variety of cloned plant materials, including bananas, pineapples and ginger. Our annual production capacity is between 1.5 million and two million plantlets,” she told Bernama.
Established 25 years ago, YSG Bioscape has also been producing premium-quality plant clones for the plantation industry using advanced tissue culture techniques. It pioneered the production of high-quality teak (Tectona grandis) clones, among others.
Based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the company has also demonstrated the global competitiveness of Malaysian biotechnology expertise by exporting more than one million teak clones to 25 countries, including Australia.
Its achievements have earned recognition from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which has used the company as a reference point in forestry biotechnology since 2010.
Elaborating on tissue culture, Goh said it is a plant propagation technique carried out in a laboratory environment, where a small portion of plant tissue, such as shoots, leaves, stems or roots, is cultured in a sterile nutrient medium until new plantlets are produced.
The technology enables scientists and agricultural producers to generate thousands of plantlets with identical genetic traits to the parent plant in a much shorter time than conventional propagation methods.
“This method allows clones to be produced from parent plants with the most desirable traits, resulting in crops that are more uniform in terms of growth, yield, disease resistance and adaptability to environmental conditions.
“Compared with conventional propagation through seeds, tissue culture offers significant advantages in terms of speed, uniformity and predictability of crop performance,” she added.
MORE STABLE YIELDS
Goh said in today’s agricultural landscape, where rising production costs and crop diseases continue to pose major challenges, the ability to produce high-quality, disease-free crops is critical to maintaining and improving productivity.
According to her, tissue culture-based crops can help farmers achieve more consistent and higher-quality yields while reducing the risk of crop losses caused by disease outbreaks.
“In the long term, this technology has the potential to strengthen domestic food supply chains and support the country’s food security agenda,” she said.
She added that cloned food crops such as bananas, pineapples and ginger possess high economic value and enjoy steady demand in both domestic and international markets.
Access to quality planting materials enables farmers to increase productivity at a more competitive cost due to the lower risk of pest infestations and disease outbreaks. This, in turn, helps lessen dependence on food imports and strengthens the domestic food supply chain.
“More importantly, tissue culture technology enables crop production to be carried out year-round without being overly dependent on seasons or specific weather conditions,” she said.
However, Goh noted that tissue culture technology requires substantial commitment as it involves significant investments in research, laboratory facilities, skilled manpower and strict quality control procedures.
In addition to cost pressures, the technology also faces challenges in terms of market acceptance as some farmers have yet to fully appreciate the advantages of tissue culture planting materials over conventional propagation methods.
“Tissue culture technology offers numerous benefits to the agricultural sector, but efforts to raise awareness and build confidence among farmers must be strengthened to ensure its full potential can be realised on a wider scale.
“In my view, once this technology is fully optimised, it will enable large-scale production within a shorter timeframe, improve operational efficiency and create stronger economies of scale,” she said.
FOOD SECURITY SOLUTION
According to Goh, strengthening the nation’s food security requires a holistic and integrated approach encompassing comprehensive policies, the adoption of modern technologies, continuous support for farmers and stronger domestic food supply chains.
In this context, she said plant tissue culture technology is one of the innovations with strong potential to support the development of the agrofood sector by producing high-quality crops to meet the needs of the agricultural industry.
“Tissue culture technology demonstrates how biotechnology innovation can be translated… from a tiny piece of plant tissue processed in a laboratory, millions of high-quality plantlets can ultimately be produced to meet industry demand.
“This approach not only enhances agricultural productivity and production efficiency but also supports efforts to strengthen national food sustainability and security in the years ahead,” she said.
She also said that through tissue culture technology, cloned plants can be developed to suit Malaysia’s tropical climate conditions.
This not only improves crop resilience to weather-related challenges but also contributes to biodiversity conservation, as well as preserves land productivity over the long term.
Goh also revealed that using its existing laboratory facilities, YSG Bioscape plans to expand its crop portfolio to include rice, herbs, bamboo and various high-value horticultural varieties.
The initiative is aligned with the aspirations of the National Biotechnology Policy 2.0, which emphasises the use of biotechnology to support sustainable agricultural development, while complementing the National Food Security Policy 2030.
“Expanding our crop portfolio is important because rice is the staple food of Malaysia, while bamboo holds potential in supporting the biomass industry,” she added.
-- BERNAMA
