Kota Marudu To Grow New Corn Hybrid

KOTA MARUDU, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- A new corn hybrid named Jagung 1Kota Marudu, which uses bio-fertiliser to produce bigger, sweeter and crispy corn that can also be eaten raw, will be cultivated in Kota Marudu, a district famous for corn, in place of the current less superior variety.

The field trial planting of the "Summer Sweet" corn variety from Taiwan, using bio-fertiliser technology by Malaysian firm All Cosmos Industries Sdn Bhd, has proven successful when the corn planted at a one-acre plot at the Farmers Training Centre in Damai here was harvested Sunday.

At the launch of the harvest, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the district Agriculture Department assistant director John Gumpil and All Cosmos Industries chief operating officer Lim Tau Boon for the transfer of the technology.

Dr Ongkili said the technology was introduced to produce a better quality corn variety for the Kota Marudu and Kudat districts which are well known for their corn.

"We want to maintain the quality of corn produced by the districts so that they will continue to be famous for their corn. The farmers who adopt this new hybrid will be taught the proper way of planting it, while those who sell corn on the cob will be taught how to properly roast it," he said.

Dr Ongkili will launch the new corn variety, which he named Jagung 1Kota Marudu, on Sunday at the Pesta Jagung (maize festival) which is an annual highlight for Kota Marudu.

The two-day carnival, which was started in 2002, will be held at the Padang Kota Marudu with various activities to promote corn and as a tourist attraction.

The activities include a Maize Queen contest, sports for the community, a cooking contest, an agriculture exhibition as well as an attempt to enter the Malaysia Book of Records by roasting 5,000 corn cobs within 15 minutes.