KOTA SAMARAHAN: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) has launched a Centre of Excellence in Sago Palm Research (CoESAR) to intensify research and development (R&D) in the commodity.
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg officiated at the launching.
The centre of excellence enlists the expertise of several researchers from various fields and departments who have been involved in sago research for almost 10 years.
The centre was funded with various grants such as the Techno-Fund, IRPA and Science Fund grants of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations Fund, and from the New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO) of Japan amounting to a total of RM12.9 million.
Kerusi Tun Openg or Sago Chair, which was awarded to Unimas in 1994, supported four research projects amounting to RM197,492 covering the specific areas of flowering process of sago palm, gene profiling of trunking and non-trunking palms, production of sugars from starch and production of amylase from sago waste.
Amylase is any of a group of proteins found in saliva and pancreatic juice and parts of plants; it helps convert starch to sugar.
The core research of the centre embraces four groups – agronomy, molecular genetics, starch technology, and utilisation and product development. CoESAR aspires to become the world reference centre for sago palm R&D activities.
It also plans to increase the number of research members in both the current research areas and other areas such as economic and social aspects of sago palm.
According to CoESAR director, Prof Dr Kopli Bujang, sago palm is one of the major contributors to the state’s economy.
More than 90 per cent of sago planting areas in the country were found in Sarawak and the centre was intended to provide direction and focus towards intensifying research activities on sago palm, he said.