Biological Control in Malaysia:
History and Moving Forward
Pg 2
trichoderma: Non-chemical
Approach For Controlling Stem
End Rot Disease of Mango
Pg 5
Dr. Mohamad Roff wants
MARDI to Focus on
Agrofood Research
By: Rohani Md Yon
Corporate Communication and Quality Centre, MARDI
C
ongratulations to Datuk Dr. Mohamad
Roff Mohd Noor, who had been appointed
as the new Director General, MARDI
on 1 December 2017. Congratulations also for
being conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Panglima
Mahkota Wilayah on 1 February 2018 by the Yang
DiPertuan Agong which gave him the title Datuk.
As the new DG of MARDI, Datuk Dr. Roff was
given the mandate to bring MARDI forward to new
heights. With 30 years experience as a researcher,
Datuk Dr. Roff will have no difficulty in mapping
the way forward for MARDI, even though the year
2018 will be a challenging year for him. He had
already put a plan to upgrade the role and R&D
focus of MARDI in agrofood research using new
sources of wealth in ensuring food security and
Saving the Future with Sustainable Development Goals
By: Dr. Ainu Husna M S Suhaimi
Corporate Communication and Quality Centre, MARDI
T
he United Nations (UN) is an international
organization designed to make the
enforcement of international law, security,
economic development, social progress, and
human rights easier for countries around the
world. The UN system is quite complex. It has
193 member countries, a secretariat and several
subsidiary organs consisting of commissions,
offices and departments. The UN has separately-
administered funds and programmes such as
World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) which also include
specialized agencies and affiliated organizations
such as World Health Organization (WHO) and
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Coordinating global initiatives is no easy
matter. To ensure standardization and unity,
the UN often develops goals and targets. Since
2000, the UN has adopted two sets of goals.
Induced Systemic Resistance:
A New Hope for Papaya
Industry
Pg 4
Actinomycetes: Essential
Microbes for Plant Health Rice Production
Pg 8
maintaining the national food self sufficiency level.
Datuk Dr. Roff also stressed that MARDI R&D plan
has to be strengthened taking into consideration
the new trends in industrial revolution such as the
use of robotics, precision farming, plant factory,
application traceability and smart packaging.
Emphasis will also be given for R&D in improving
the technological sophisticated agriculture that can
help younger people see farming as a productive,
profitable and future-proof industry. MARDI will
create technologies that will excite the younger
generation to be involved in agriculture such as
the ICT savvy technologies used in precision and
indoor agricultural farming.
Urbanisation has brought a new set of
consumers in Malaysia. “We see a change in
consumer preference due to urbanisation. The
smaller urban families want food products that are
smaller in size such as smaller watermelons and
The  Millennium Development Goals  (MDGs)
which were effective from 2000 to 2015 aimed
to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure
prosperity for all. It had 7 goals, namely, (i) to
achieve universal primary education, (ii) promote
gender equality and empower women, (iii) reduce
child mortality, (iv) improve maternal health, (v)
combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,
(vi) ensure environmental sustainability and (vii)
develop a global partnership for development.
The MDGs have successfully addressed some
issues and had some significant achievements. By
putting people and their immediate needs at the
forefront, the MDGs reshaped decision-making in
developed and developing countries and helped to
lift more than one billion people out of extreme
poverty, made inroads against hunger, enabled
more girls to attend schools and protect our planet’s
environment.
Despite the good progress, much more still need
to be done. Inequalities still persist and although
there are progresses, it has been uneven. The world’s
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March 2018
Vol: 011
Clearfield® Multidetect Immunosensor
for Precise and Rapid
Technology Detection of Plant Pathogen
Pg 9 Pg 10
shorter beans so that they can be fully consumed
by the family members without wastage,” said
Datuk Dr. Roff. “Thus, research will be focussed
in producing these products as preferred by the
urban consumers so that our food system will be
efficient with less waste.”
Great emphasis also will be given to develop
the agrofood R&D programmes and projects in
MARDI’s seven centres of excellence located in
Sintok, Seberang Perai, Bagan Datuk, Kluang,
Cameron Highlands, Jerangau and Bachok. Besides
that, development in agrotourism centres will
also be given a new facelift with the development
of the animal industry centre in Kluang and
herbal in Kuala Linggi. This is in addition to the
already existing agrotourism centres in Langkawi,
Cameron Highlands and Cherating.
More on page 4
poor still remain overwhelmingly concentrated in
some parts of the world. In 2011, nearly 60% of the
world’s one billion extremely poor people lived in
just five countries. Disparities between rural and
urban areas also remained pronounced. Hence, in
September 2015, the 2030 Development Agenda
entitled ‘Transforming our world: The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development’ was adopted
at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in
New York, USA. The 2030 Agenda offers a vision
of a fairer, more peaceful world in which no one is
left behind. Seventeen  Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets were pledged by 193
UN members in this agenda and the SDGs cover a
broad range of social and economic development
issues including poverty, hunger, health, education,
climate change and gender equality.
Food and agriculture are keys to achieving the
entire set of SDGs. Sustainable agriculture and
food systems is vital in sustainable development
which in turn will help countries realize multiple
More on page 10
2 March 2018
VIEW POINT
E D I T O R
By: Datuk Dr. Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor
Director General MARDI
Advisor
• Datuk Dr. Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor
(Director General MARDI)
MARDI Editorial Team
• Dr. Ainu Husna MS Suhaimi
• Dr. Ahmad Safuan Bujang
• Dr. Chubashini Suntharalingam
• Rohani Md Yon
• Noor Salina Mohd Baharuddin
• Aniadila Kamaruddin
• Ruwaida Abdul Hamid
• Mohd Nor Faizal Hj Ghazalli
• Noor Syahira Nasarudin
• Fazlinda Fadzil
MARDI Press
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• Ahmad Fauzi Abd Rashid
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MARDI Headquarters,
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I A L
Biological Control in Malaysia:
History and Moving Forward
P
est and disease management plays an important
role in agriculture and always brings challenges
to the farmers. Use of chemical pesticides which
is one of the management tools has raised public concern
on environmental health and consumer safety. Crop
producers must seek alternative approaches in order to
produce high quality crops and at the same time apply
good crop protection practices. Pest management through
biological control methods is now becoming recognized for
many crop production systems.
In nature, interaction between an organism and
its natural enemies is an ecological process that is
compulsory in order to regulate or suppress the population
of that organism. This is what we call natural control. In
agriculture, crop pests are controlled naturally by their
natural enemies which include predators, parasitoids,
pathogens and competitors. In a situation where the
natural interaction is disturbed, pest population will
increase beyond control and can cause serious damage
to the crops. An example of disturbance is injudicious
use of pesticides and monoculture practice. This
problem can be overcome by encouraging the activities
of the natural enemies of the pests through application
of biological control methods which also needs active
human management roles. Biological control can be an
important component of integrated pest management
(IPM) programmes and must be considered as a crucial
part of it.
In Malaysia, DDT pesticides were introduced during
World War II period and starting from that, the local
agricultural sector has been revolutionized. However, the
success of using chemical pesticides in controlling several
crop pests in this country had brought a major setback.
For example, in Cameron Highlands during early 50’s, the
Diamondback moth (DBM), Plustella xylostella became
resistance to several insecticides due to excessive use of
the chemicals which later caused serious outbreak and
heavy losses of vegetable crops. In 1977, injudicious use
of insecticides to control pest in rice fields caused severe
outbreak of a minor rice pest, brown planthopper (BPH)
or Nilaparvata lugens in the Tanjung Karang irrigation
scheme. These two events changed the pest control
approach from solely depending on pesticides towards a
more integrated approach.
In 1970’s, an ecological approach was adopted to
manage DBM problem in this country. MARDI together
with DOA conducted some studies focusing on finding
suitable natural enemies to control the DBM. The studies
resulted in the discovery of a local parasitoid wasp, Cotesia
plutellae. This finding paved the way for the acceptance
of biological control agents as a possible alternative to
break the existing pesticide dependency at that time.
From this, more parasitoid wasp species were introduced
to aid in combating DBM by means of biological methods.
Diadegma semiclausum and Diadromus collaris were
brought in from Australia and India. This led to the
first successful classical biological control attempt in
Malaysia. by the year 2050 globally. As for its future in Malaysia, the
As for the BPH, its major outbreak in the rice fields
was because of the mass removal of its natural enemies
by insecticides. From research studies, insecticides killed
both pests and natural enemies and often caused pest
resurgence which recorded higher population than before.
The insecticide sprays caused fewer predator numbers in the
rice field compared to field without any insecticides application.
This contributed to higher ratio of BPH to the natural enemies
in sprayed areas. To overcome this problem, farmers were
encouraged to minimize the use of chemicals so that the natural
population of the BPH natural control agents such as the
spiders, mirid bugs and predatory beetles can be well sustained.
This is called a biological control approach conservation and
was proven successful. This is the simplest way of implementing
biological control as the natural enemies species are relatively
inexpensive and able to control naturally over a large area
compared to chemical pesticides. Moreover, indigenous natural
enemy population will increase when there is no application of
insecticides.
These two scenarios are examples of successful biological
control stories in Malaysia besides many others in several crops.
The success of these biological control efforts, which are part of
IPM approach, was based on several key factors and strategies.
So how far does the IPM programme especially the biological
control of crop pests and diseases can go? What are needed in
order to sustain the adoption of this programme? Answering to
those questions, the key aspects of sustainability and adoption
have always been major issues in many biological control
programmes. Although it is evident that biological control
programmes have been successfully implemented in a wide range
of crop environments and the potential to increase the role of
biological control is great, biological control programmes always
pose challenges due to discontinuous funding and changes in the
perception of farmers. The latter is largely exacerbated by weak
government extension services and the disinterest in anything
other than chemical control among the pesticide industries.
Invariably, there is gradual reversion from an IPM to a pesticide-
dominated scenario as evidenced by increasing pesticide misuse
by growers including claims of adulterations and illegal pesticide
use.
However, it is still believed that future pest management
will depend strongly on biological control because it is the
most sustainable and environmentally safest system of pest
management. Biological control is expected to account for a
significantly increased proportion of all crop protection methods
implementation and efforts must have a strong R&D support
so that it will be able to move forward. Biological control and
ecology should be the central focus with other integrated bio-
based technologies as it is crucial for a successful implementation
of an IPM programme.
 March 2018 3
RESEARCH
DEVELOPMENT OF NEAR-ISOGENIC LINES CARRYING
BPH3 RESISTANT GENES TO BROWN PLANTHOPPER IN
MR 269 VARIETY
By: Dr. Mohamad Bahagia AB Ghaffar, Mohd Shahril Firdaus Ab Razak, Muhammad Fairuz Mohd Yusof and
Maisarah Mohamad Saad
Paddy and Rice Research Centre, MARDI

R
ice (Oryza sativa L.) is classified as one of
the most economically important cereal crop
in the world including Malaysia. However,
the availability of rice in the world market is very
small, resulting in supply shortage whenever biotic
and abiotic incidences occurred in the major rice
producing countries, subsequently leading to price
increase. With the number of human population
increasing each year, an immediate action needs to
be done to ensure the production of rice will be able to
meet future demand which was projected to increase
to about 771.1 million tonnes in 2030. In Malaysia,
the strategy is focusing on sustaining food security
at 70% self-sufficiency level through increasing and
sustaining domestic rice production
One of the major problems for rice growers is
reduced crop yields due to biotic stress. This includes
threats from herbivorous insects, particularly brown
planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stal), locally
known as bena perang, which remains as one of
the most destructive and widespread pests of rice
throughout Asia that causes serious yield losses in
many countries. Brown planthopper is a hemipterous
insect which has specialized mouth parts for tissue
piercing and plant sap ingestion. Severe attack by
the BPH caused plant dehydration resulting in a
symptom known as ‘hopperburn’ or locally described
as ‘bom’, which resulted in complete wilting and
drying of the rice plants. The BPH also indirectly
acts as vectors for grassy stunt and ragged stunt
viral diseases. In the past few years, new large scale
outbreaks of BPH have been continuously recorded
mostly in the tropical regions of East and Southeast
Asia. Malaysia has suffered a number of increasingly
localized serious outbreaks of BPH from 2007 due to
the fact that our rice field is intensively cultivated
with mono variety.
For many years, insecticides remain the
primary tool in managing BPH population in the
field. However, insecticides misuse has lead to the
declining of rice natural predators and beneficial
insects, resulting to an even more wide spread build-
up of BPH population which occurred in China in
2005 and 2006. Continuous chemical usage also
leads to environmental pollution and it can also
induce insect resurgence and insecticide resistance.
One of the most practical options to manage pest
and disease incidences is by introducing resistant
varieties. Utilization of resistant varieties is better in
term of economical and environmental friendliness
as well as providing better alternative than the use
of chemicals. Many resistant varieties to blast and
BLB diseases as well as to BPH had been introduced
in the country. Several of these varieties are still
resistant to the targeted BPH and diseases while
others had succumbed to infection after several years
been introduced for commercial planting. These
varieties need to be replaced with newer varieties
which are resistant to the present prevalent biotypes
or pathotypes of the pathogens in the rice fields.
Previously, MARDI’s breeding programme for
resistant varieties is mainly done through phenotypic
selection based on rates of incidences, which a b
has inherent difficulties to ascertain functional
genes operating in the varieties and difficulty to Brown plant hopper attacks rice plants (a) and outbreak
conduct pyramiding of genes for a longer durability. which causes hopperburn (b)
However, this limitation could be solved through the
application of molecular marker assisted breeding
technology. Advancement in molecular biotechnology
has provided an alternative tool for application
in rice plant breeding, such as the application of
DNA marker technology. This technology provides
an alternative method in developing superior rice
varieties within a shorter period of time. DNA
markers allow the breeders to tag the gene of interest
which enable them to monitor the gene introgression
in every generation which is impossible to detect by
conventional breeding practice. This technology is
known as marker assisted selection (MAS). Besides,
DNA marker technology is also used to accelerate
the recovery of recurrent parent genomes through
marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB) technology. This
technology was utilised by introgressing Bph3 BPH-
resistant genes in backcross breeding programmes. Schematic diagram showing breeding strategy to introgress
The Bph3 resistant gene from the donor plant, Bph3 resistance gene in recurrent parent. Selfing seeds
Rathu Heenati, was successfully introgressed into (BC3F2 and BC3F3) from B31F1 population was used to
MR 269 variety at BC3F2 stage using two tightly evaluate their resistance level against BPH
linked markers, RM589 and RM8072 which were
flanking the gene of interest as foreground selection
(MAS). In this step, the selection efficiency was
optimised from 96% to 99.6% probability. Background
marker analysis on the selected plants from the earlier
foreground analysis was further done using 96 single
nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in order to identify
BC1F1 to BC3F1 plants with high similarities to the
respective recurrent parents. Results clearly showed
that similarity percentage with recurrent parent,
MR 269, has significantly increased from 23.3% -
63.3% at BC1F1 to 80.4-94.1% at BC3F1. Plants from
crossing of Rathu Heenati/MR 269* had the desired
Bph3 gene with 99.6% probability and had similarity
values of more than 80% to the respective recurrent
parents. Early improved MR 269 lines variety
(BC3F3) is already being developed and ready for
further evaluation. Total number and similarity percentage with recurrent parent
This project provides a good evidence of the latest MR269 at BC2F1 and BC3F1 stage
technology in molecular breeding for facilitating rice
varietal development programme in MARDI. The a b
MAS approaches clearly assist breeders in selection
process efficiency in terms of monitoring character
of interest such as resistant genes using specific
markers. The DNA markers could also be used to
accelerate the recovery of recurrent parents during
marker-assisted backcrossing using background
markers (MAB) screening. Therefore, breeding time
will be significantly reduced and project objective
achievement is more guaranteed. This project also
gave a good example for MARDI to promote the usage
of this approach to other agencies. It is safe to say
that the most important outcome of this project is the
successful development of the new improved MR 269 Donor of Bph3 Morphological character comparison
lines which contain Bph3 gene which is resistant to gene parent, Rathu between lines RU14197-7 (a) and
BPH attack. Heenati RU14197-20 (b) with recurrent MR269

MARDI-AVRDC Research
Collaboration on Legume Pod
Borer Pest, Maruca vitrata
By: Farah Huda Sjafni Suherman
Horticulture Research Centre MARDI

F
rom 2011 – 2013, a research collaboration between MARDI and the World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC)
Collaborating ASEAN countries at the World Vegetable
was undertaken. The project was entitled ’Less loss, more profit, better health: Reducing the losses
Center Research and Training Station in Kamphaeng Sen,
caused by the pod borer (Maruca vitrata) on vegetable legumes in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan
Thailand
Africa by refining component technologies of a sustainable management strategy‘. Besides Malaysia,
countries such as Germany, Taiwan, Benin, Kenya, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam were also involved
in this project. The project was supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
GmbH (GIZ). The main aim was to improve livelihoods through sustainable vegetable legume production
systems in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
An expert from AVRDC Taiwan, Dr. Srinivasan Ramasamy, was the technical key personnel meanwhile
Dr. Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor served as MARDI’s Principal Investigator, responsible for conducting activities
that had been outlined in the project. MARDI ‘s involvement in the research part includes the collection of
M.vitrata in the Peninsular and West Malaysia from different hosts of the legumes plant genera, to assess
promising bio-pesticides and to explore M. vitrata species-specific parasitoids in Malaysia.
As part of the project, AVRDC also conducted a training course on the identification and mass-culturing
of M. vitrata and its natural enemies from 28 February to 2 March 2012 at its Research and Training
Station in Kamphaeng Sen, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. With each training session and field trips, the
collaborating researchers were able to learn about the pest and to deliver the project outputs. MARDI scientists involved in a training course at the
World Vegetable Center Research and Training Station in
Kamphaeng Sen, Thailand (right and centre)
More on page 10
4 March 2018

TECHNOLOGY
From front page

Dr. Mohamad Roff wants MARDI to Focus on

Agrofood Research
Datuk Dr. Roff also wants to upgrade the visibility of MARDI both at
national and international levels. At the national level he wants MARDI to
work closely with the industry and strengthen the linkage between MARDI
and the food and agricultural industries. One of the ways to improve MARDI’s
visibility is to create the supply and demand virtual information database
known as SDVI which analyses commodities movement and prices and smooth
out the regional gaps. At MARDI’s headquarters, the commodities supply and
demand can be monitored at every stage in each state. From there they can
channel the supply of commodities such as fruits and vegetables from one
state to another.
At the international level MARDI will be greatly involved in international
activities such as organising courses, seminars and conferences. MARDI will
also be Malaysia’s representative in agricultural programmes conducted at
the international level. At the same time great empahsis will be given for all
research officers to write and present their research results in established
international journals.

Induced Systemic Resistance:

A New Hope for Papaya Industry
By: Ganisan Krishnen
Crops and Soil Science Research Centre, MARDI

T
he introduction of high quality papaya
varieties, Eksotika in 1987 and Eksotika
II (F1 hybrid) in 1991, by MARDI, has
dramatically boosted the Malaysian papaya
industry and increased the export revenue. The
papaya export revenue, valued at RM3 million in
1986, reached its peak in 2004 at RM120 million and
Malaysia was ranked as the second most important
papaya exporting country in the world. However,
this achievement did not last as the industry
succumbed to fruit fly quarantine restrictions by
This disease pushed the Malaysian papaya
industry to the brink of collapse affecting the
local production and export revenue severely. The
papaya export revenue worth RM120 million in
2004, just one year after the disease was discovered,
dropped sharply to RM28 million in 2012 (Figure
2). Thus, an efficient papaya bacterial dieback
control strategy is urgently needed to rejuvenate
the ailing papaya industry. Plate 1: Eksotika II, mainly cultivated for export
Among the various approaches tested, market
including chemical and biological controls, only Emergence of papaya BD

importing countries and the outbreak of papaya induced systemic resistance (ISR) is efficient (2003)

bacterial dieback disease in Malaysia.
The bacterial dieback disease was first detected
in 2003 and caused the destruction of about 800 ha
(2/3 of planted area) of plantings in 2008, with loss
of about 200,000 tonnes of papaya, amounting to
USD20 million (Figure 1). This resulted in Malaysia
losing its competitiveness to the closest competitor,
Mexico, in papaya production and export. The
spread of this disease is rapid and the causal agent
was initially identified as Erwinia papayae and
later reclassified as E. mallotivora (Plate 2) using
molecular identification technique. Rapid spread of
this disease put the industry in threat of infecting
all the varieties available including important
export varieties such as Eksotika I and II, Solo
in controlling the disease in both seedlings and
mature plants. This process of plant resistant
enhancement, known as ISR, systematically
activated the plant disease resistance in the roots
and further extends it to above-ground plant
parts. The ISR can be activated by inoculating the
roots with plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria
(PGPR). The PGPR mediated ISR has been
reported previously on a wide range of crops and
we had developed an efficient ISR technique which
succeeded in controlling papaya bacterial dieback
on commercial farms (hotspots where the disease
is prevalent). The PGPR for systemic resistance Figure 1: Impact of Bacterial Dieback Disease on papaya
induction were isolated from papaya rhizosphere. production in Malaysia
Studies on controlling the severity of the Emergence of papaya BD
(2003)

and Sekaki. The severity of this disease forced the
authority to classify it as an invasive alien disease
and gazette it as a dangerous plant disease.
Early symptoms of infection are yellowing and
necrosis along leaf edge followed by necrotic water-
soaked areas on the stems. In later stages, the
water-soaked leaf stalks collapse leading to dieback
and death of trees. This disease also infected young
seedlings, young trees, petioles, leaves, fruits,
stems and crown of the papaya tree (Plate 3). It
was reported that the disease exist in 23 countries
without any efficient control strategies. Among the
severely affected countries were Malaysia (2003),
Kingdom of Tonga (2009) and the Philippines
(2015) where the damaged can be as high as 100%.
The level of disease severity varies with varieties
in which the Eksotika and Solo were the worst
affected.
disease using PGPR inoculation were conducted
both on papaya seedlings in the nursery and
matured plants in the farms. This technology was
up-scaled in a commercial farm where the disease
infection was brought down as low as five percent
and the economical losses caused by this disease
were minimised. Further application of the
technology in four commercial farms successfully
kept the disease infection rate at a minimum level
(not exceeding five percent).
The Hon. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Datuk
Nogeh Anak Gumbek launched the technology on
1st August 2017. Currently, MARDI is setting-up
a technopreneur company for comercialisation of
Figure 2: Papaya export trend for 27 years
the technology which will be available to papaya
farmers by the first quarter of 2018.
a

a b c d

e g b
f h

Plate 3: Different types of symptoms related to bacterial dieback of papaya

Plate 2: Erwinia mallotivora, the causal agent of papaya
bacterial dieback
a) leaf yellowing and necrosis, b) infection on seedlings, c) flagging leaf symptom,
d) water soaked symptom on petiole, e) infection on trunk, f) collapse of terminal crown of papaya
a) E. Mallotivora on culture medium
g) infection on fruits h) highly devastated papaya farm caused bacterial dieback,
b) Micrograph of E. mallotivora (Mat Amin et al, 2010)
 March 2018 5
TECHNOLOGY
Addressing Papaya Dieback Disease
through Biotechnology Approaches
By: Nazrul Hisham Nazaruddin, Amin Asyraf Tamizi, Dr. Adrain Ling Chieng Kuang, Noriha Mat Amin,
Dr. Rogayah Sekeli and Dr. Johari Sarip
Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, MARDI

P
apaya dieback disease (PDD) has been sequencing a transcriptome, tagging a very large
affecting the local papaya industry for more number of expressed genes.
than a decade and yet, no effective measures RNA-seq using Illumina sequencing technology
are available to cure the infected plants and stop was embarked to identify potential defence-
the spreading of the disease. In 2010, the “true” related genes from Eksotika, PDD susceptible
perpetrator of the disease has been identified and variety and Viorica, a tolerant variety, that were
validated as a gram-negative bacterium, Erwinia differentially expressed after artificially infected
mallotivora, and this crucial finding has given with PDD pathogen, E. mallotivora. The study
a glimpse of hope to discover more about the concentrated on differentially expressed genes
pathogen as well as potential ways to combat the at the early stage of papaya defence mechanism
disease. against PDD. Several potential defence-related
genes have been identified to show significant
Unveiling E. mallotivora genome sequence differential expressions. Downstream validation
A very significant biotechnology approach to and bioinformatics analyses showed single
discover the molecular characteristics of the nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between genes
pathogen is by decoding its genetic information. from Eksotika and Viorica. These genes will be
Thus, the sequencing of E. mallotivora genome useful in producing functional markers for marker-
may provide insightful information on the assisted breeding and germplasm screening for
pathogenicity islands or genes associated with the PDD tolerant/resistant varieties. They can also be
pathogen’s virulence. A draft genome sequence of genetically transformed into papaya varieties to
E. mallotivora BT-MARDI has been deposited in increase their tolerance/resistance towards PDD.
DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under accession number
JFHN00000000 by which it provides a significant Bacteria antagonism and genetic engineering
platform for the scientific community to study the Bacterial cocktail formulations consisting
pathogen intensively. of different soil bacterium species had been
formulated and proven to be useful for suppressing
Transcriptomic analysis of host defence PDD in green house and field trial scale. These
Sequencing technology has made great advances bacteria include different species of Bacillus
in recent decades. Next-generation sequencing isolated from various plant rhizospheres that are
(NGS) and complementary computational tools scientifically validated to possess antagonism
have allowed high-throughput sequencing and characteristic against E. mallotivora. Among
assembly possible. RNA-seq, the sequencing of them are B. thuringiensis SP17, B. thuringiensis
a transcriptome using NGS, promises a cost- SP24, B. megaterium CHB18 and B. megaterium
effective means of either deeply sampling or fully SP23. When used in combination in different
Performance of transgenic and non-transgenic papaya plants during
screening with papaya dieback pathogen.
Anti-quorum sensing (top pictures) and
antagonism (bottom pictures) of selected
Bacillus bacteria towards E. mallotivora.
formulations, or as single isolate, these biological control agents
exhibit antagonism against E. mallotivora.
As antagonisms had been detected in a few isolates of Bacillus
bacteria, the genes responsible for this trait were isolated and
transferred to Eksotika papaya using genetic engineering technology.
The genes encode a type of molecule-degrading enzymes known as
lactonase, an enzyme capable of disrupting essential communication
of the pathogen. Once the communication between individual cells
of E. mallotivora is quenched or blocked, the bacteria are unable to
multiply and spread to cause the disease in the host plant.
The genetically modified (GM) plant is also known as a transgenic
crop since the source of the gene is from entirely different organism
or species. The present study reveals that several transgenic lines
were able to withstand dieback disease during the initial screening
with the pathogen. It offers a promising outcome, however, more
screening will be conducted for further validation.

Resistant Variety: Trichoderma:

Non-chemical Approach for Controlling
New Light for Papaya Industry Stem End Rot Disease of Mango
By: Suhanna Ahmad
By: Dr. Johari Sarip, Dr. Razali Mustaffa and Dr. Pauziah Muda
Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI

Horticulture Research Centre, MARDI
Viorica: Female plant Viorica: Hermaphrodite plant
F1 Hybrid: Eksotika X Dwarica
S
tem end rot caused by Botryodiploidia theobromae is one of the most
common and serious diseases of mango (Mangifera indica). The disease
occurs at postharvest stage which usually led to commercial losses.
The pathogen, B. theobromae, is sensitive to temperature and humidity. It
will germinate and grow at low temperature and can penetrate the fruit
through the injured sites. Infection occurs at the stem end and through
wounds on the fruits. The first symptom to emerge is lesion on the fruit
which will change colour to light brown and finally black. The disease is
further characterized in advanced stages by softening and appearance of
water-soaked tissues.
Currently, the most used strategy for controlling this disease is the
application of chemical fungicides. However, after more than 40 years of
continuous application of chemical fungicides, the pathogens become
resistant and can cause ecological damage. Biological control is one of the
ways to overcome the problem which employs an antagonistic organism
to control the pathogen. Trichoderma sp. has been known to control plant
diseases biologically for more than 70 years. This fungus has characteristics

I
of a good biological agent, i.e. function as parasites of plant pathogenic fungi,
ntensive breeding research was conducted to develop high quality produced antibiotics, increased growth and yields of plants, increased root
Malaysian papaya. In early 1990’s MARDI developed two excellent growth and drought tolerance, induced systemic resistance to disease and
quality papaya hybrids. Hybrid 1 was generated from crosses between efficient in the utilization of nutrients. It is ubiquitous, easy to isolate and
Eksotika and Dwarica with innovation in improving fruit quality, cosmetic culture and grow rapidly on many substrates.
and shelf life. Another hybrid was generated from two F1 hybrids i.e. (Line 19 A study conducted by MARDI showed that Trichoderma asperellum with
x PR217) X (Line 19 x Line 20). With this hybrid, known as double-crossed a spore concentration of 1x108 conidia/ ml managed to reduce about 50%
hybrid, emphasis was given on fruit quality, heterosis, cosmetic and shelf life. disease severity on mangoes. The percentage of disease severity was low in
Double-crossed hybrid has advantages compared to other hybrids because comparison to untreated mangoes. The study further indicated that stem
of the involvement of multiple parents which provide a wider genetic base. end rot incidence was reduced when the spore suspension of Trichoderma
However, the release of both hybrids has been postponed due to susceptibility sp. was sprayed on the fruits. Based on these findings, Trichoderma has
to papaya dieback disease. the potential to be further evaluated as a biocontrol agent based on its
Papaya dieback disease (PDD) caused by the notorious pathogen, Erwinia effectiveness to reduce mango diseases.
mallotivora, was first recorded in 2003 and still remains as the main
constraint in papaya industry in Malaysia. The common symptoms of PDD
include greasy, water-soaked lesions and spots on petioles, leaves, trunks
and fruits.
The development of new varieties becomes more challenging due to the
lack of resistant accessions. Three intensive phases have been implemented
for PDD research strategy in MARDI. The three serial phases include
increasing the gene-pool to obtain resistant gene, glass house and hotspot
screening, and finally followed by proper breeding programme.
In 2012, Viorica was discovered and found to be highly tolerant and has
been filed for IP: PVP 2013/09/0014. It was developed through selection and
purified through composite controlled pollination to increase heterosis and Botryodiploidia theobromae
purity. The plant is vigorous with purple petiole and peduncle. Therefore, the
discovery of Viorica offers new light in papaya industry.
Four breeding strategies were implemented to overcome PDD. Strategy
1 is to develop high quality F1 hybrid from Solo papaya, using Viorica as
a donor. The second strategy is to develop double-crossed resistant hybrids
against PDD. The third strategy is to develop pure line resistant papaya. The Seven-day
F9 progenies are expected to have high resistance level, good agronomic and old colony of
uniform. Finally, to develop resistant plant using Viorica as a rootstock. Trichoderma
sp.
Symptom of stem end rot disease
6 March 2018
FOCUS
By: Badrulhadza Amzah
Crop and Soil Science Research Centre, MARDI
Ladybird Beetles
– The Good versus the Bad
H
ave you heard about ladybird beetles?
Or have you seen them in your garden? I
bet most of us do. They are insects from
a beetle family called Coccinellidae which are
commonly found in your garden. These are short-
legged, small, rounded, usually bright coloured
insects with distinct wing patterns, and can be
found worldwide with up to more than 6,000
species.
Commonly known as ladybugs, ladybirds or
lady beetles, these insects are ecologically as well
agriculturally important. In Malaysia, they are
called kumbang kura-kura and most of them are
considered as beneficial insects since they feed
on sap-sucking plant pests such as aphids, scale
insects, mealybugs, hoppers, whiteflies and mites.
The beneficial species can be good helpers to farmers
as they act as natural biological control agents to
get rid of insect pests. For example, the zig-zag
ladybirds (Menochilus sexmaculatus) can be found
in paddy fields, orchards, vegetable gardens and
grassy areas. Other good ladybird species that can
be found in agricultural areas are the transverse
ladybird (Coccinella transversalis), the seven-
spotted ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), the
yellow-netted ladybird (Heteroneda billardieri) as
well as Micraspis discolor, Coelophora inequalis
and Harmonia octomaculata. Both adults and
larvae are predatory and can prey on the insect
pests in the field.
However, there are several ladybird beetles that
are far from helpful. Instead, they themselves are
the pests! These leaf-eating ladybird beetles can
become a serious problem to farmers.
A seven spotted ladybird eating aphids
Two of the most popular pest species, worldwide,
are the 12-spotted ladybirds (Epilachna indica)
and the 28-spotted ladybirds (Epilachna
vigintioctopunctata). Both species feed on leaves
of eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons,
sweet potatoes and other solanaceous as well as
cucurbitaceous plants. There is also a species
of predatory ladybird beetles that turn out to be
a pest and bring bad effects to the environment.
Harlequin ladybirds or Asian ladybirds (Harmonia
axyridis) are large coccinellids that feed on aphids. A swarm of invasive Harlequin
The species was known as a good biological control
agent but now it is considered as an invasive
species in many countries in the world. Due to its
huge appetite, they are taking over the habitats
of native beneficial ladybird beetles. They eat the
food that native ladybirds eat and when this food
runs out, they prey on other ladybirds. They are
also invading human residence to breed. They can
become quite aggressive to humans and capable
to bite. Some people may have allergic reactions
to the beetles in forms of conjunctivitis, asthma or
cough, especially if they are in abundance.
It is difficult for farmers or common people to
identify the good or bad ladybird beetle species.
Sometimes, farmers wrongly identified the
beneficial ladybird beetles as pests and spray
chemical pesticides to kill them. Through time,
farmers will gain experience and with continuous
educational efforts, they will learn how to
differentiate the good and the bad ones.
 March 2018 7
FOCUS

A zig-zag ladybird, Menochilus sexmaculatus

A ladybird larva preying on aphids

Ladybirds that are plant pest

ladybirds

An Epilachna ladybird is eating a leaf

8 March 2018
TECHNOLOGY
Actinomycetes: Essential
Microbes for Plant Health
A
ctinomycetes are worthwhile microorganisms
which have been widely used as secondary
metabolites for various medical purposes
such as antibiotics, antifungal and antihelminth.
These microorganisms also play a vital role in
agriculture and have been reported to be a good
decomposer. They are also good nitrogen fixers when
in association with some non-leguminous plants
and become plant growth promoting rhizobacteria
(PGPR) by inhabiting the rhizosphere and also act
as biocontrol agent.
The importance of Streptomyces species from
Actinomycetes has been explored as biological agent
for controlling various plant diseases. Recently,
Streptomyces have successfully inhibited the
growth of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubensis (Foc),
a pathogen of fusarium wilt disease of bananas.
This disease is known as a major factor limiting
commercial production of bananas and regarded
as one of the most destructive diseases of bananas
in the world. Incidence of Foc has been recorded
and confirmed in five banana growing countries in
Asia including Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Taiwan
and Philippines. Several disease management
strategies such as crop rotation and injection of
rhizomes with 2% carbendazim have been tried.
However, none of the applications can successfully
overcome this disease.
Recently, MARDI has successfully identified
four potential species of Streptomyces which were
capable to suppress the growth of Foc. They are
designated as Streptomyces S1, Streptomyces S5,
Streptomyces S7 and Streptomyces S12. Double
plate assay of all these species resulted in drying
of the Foc colonies which eventually vanished
from the plate. Glasshouse study has shown
banana plants inoculated with Foc (without
application of Streptomyces) died after 7 days of
Close up image of Streptomyces spp
BANANA BLOOD DISEASE IN MALAYSIA
By: Rafidah Badrun
Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, MARDI
B
anana cultivation in Malaysia faced a lot
of problems due to the occurrence of many
serious diseases. One of the major banana
diseases is a bacteria wilt disease. A recent survey
conducted by the Department of Agriculture in
Johor revealed that 61% of the banana plants in
the surveyed area of 3200 ha were found to be
infected by this disease. It was caused by bacteria
closely related to Ralstonia species and recently
named as Blood Disease Bacteria (BDB) which
differ from the bacteria that caused Moko and
Bugtok diseases, although the symptoms produced
are slightly similar. The bacteria were originally
named Pseudomonas celebensis by Gaumann in
1923. It was later considered to be an aberrant
form of Moko. After the appearance of the disease
in Java, further investigations showed that the
bacteria were in fact different from that which
causes Moko.
The name ‘blood disease’ was originally adopted
because of the appearance of droplets of a thick
milky white, yellow or red-brown liquid which
often ooze out of the vascular tissues of infected
plant at cut surfaces. Blood disease is estimated
to be spreading at the rate of approximately
25 kilometers per year. Initial symptoms are
yellowing and wilting of upper leaves and shoots
and eventually the whole plant wilted. The fruit
may appear unaffected but internally they are
discoloured to reddish-brown and often dried or
rotted. Meanwhile, cut stems or peduncles exude
bacterial ooze that may vary in colour from milky to
yellow to reddish-brown to black. Besides that, the
presence of blackened and shriveled male flower
By: Azlan Azizi Muhamad Nor
Crops and Soils Science Research Centre, MARDI
treatment. Whereas plants inoculated with Foc
and treated with Streptomyces recovered and
survived throughout the study. This positive
result encouraged MARDI to produce a bio-based
fungicide using suitable and effective formulation
from these Streptomyces as an eco-friendly
approach in controlling fusarium wilt disease of
bananas and other important agricultural diseases
in the future. This effort helps to reduce the usage
of agricultural pesticide inputs in our food supply
to become safer food for the future.
Banana plants inoculated with Foc (without application of
Streptomyces) died after 7 days of treatment.
b
Potential species of Streptomyces (S1, S5, S7, S12)
a
Fusarium wilts disease symptoms
in cross section of banana trunk
Screening the potential Streptomyces spp.
a) double petri dish assay; b) suppression of Foc growth compared to control plate.
buds suggests that the disease is transmitted by
insects which can occur from infected male buds
to distant flowers. BDB can survive for one year in
soil contaminated with infected plant residues and
root to root infection is also possible.
The BDB were first detected and isolated in
a banana plantation located at Padang Rengas,
Kuala Kangsar, Perak in 2013. One year later, they
were isolated from a banana plantation in Batang
Kali, Selangor. Recent banana blood disease
outbreaks occurred in 2015 in Balik Pulau, Pulau
Pinang involving plantations in Permatang Pasir, Fruit with internal brownish discoloration, indicating the
Sungai Rusa, Kampung Perlis, and Teluk Kumbar. bacteria had penetrated and blocked the vascular system
About 153 ha of banana plantations found on
the island were affected and 90% of the infected
banana plants were from the pisang awak variants
which are classified as cooking bananas.
To further study this disease, the Biotechnology
and Nanotechnology Research Centre, MARDI
Collapsed and
in collaboration with the Horticulture Research
dying banana
Centre, started a step forward in fundamental
tree infected by
research in omics study such as genomics,
BDB
transcriptomics and proteomics. MARDI has
successfully submitted and deposited the whole
DNA genome sequence in GenBank NCBI under
the accession numbers CP019911 for chromosome
and CP019912 for plasmid. The draft genome
sequence of BDB A2 HR-MARDI will provide will help in molecularly elucidate the pathogen
insights into the discovery of potential virulence virulence mechanism. Further study will also be
factors and hypersensitive response and carried out at the bacteria transcriptome level. The
pathogenicity (hrp) genes from the pathogen. A list information obtained from this study may provide
of virulence protein has been identified to support an integrated approach in overcoming this disease
the genome data of BDB to give a comprehensive and a strategic plan towards the development of
finding on the bacteria’s pathogenicity. This blood disease banana resistant variety.
 March 2018 9
COMMERCIALIZATION

Clearfield® Rice Production

Technology By: Dilipkumar Masilamany
Paddy and Rice Research Centre, MARDI

W
eedy rice is a threat to rice production
worldwide. Its ability to compete against
rice in all development stages has resulted
in large losses of rice yield and reduction in grain
quality in Malaysia. Weedy rice belongs to the same
species as cultivated rice, therefore, its control by
non-selective herbicides is inefficient. Weedy rice
management is done only through land preparation,
mechanical tools and other cultural practices.
Its infestation had been a major problem for rice
production in Malaysia, until the Clearfield® rice
production system was commercialized in 2010.
This system uses broad-spectrum, imidazolinone
herbicides together with mutant rice cultivars,
known as Clearfield® rice, which are resistant
to imidazolinone herbicides. Thus, Clearfield®
technology enables selective chemical control of
weedy rice. Clearfield® rice cultivars have point
mutations in the gene for the acetolactate synthase
enzyme (ALS), which is the target of imidazolinone
herbicides. These mutations determine substitutions
of amino acids located on the herbicide binding site,
thereby, generating resistance to imidazolinone
herbicides.
The Clearfield® rice production technology was
first commercialized in 2002 in the USA to control
weedy rice. Other countries rapidly adopted the
technology and these include Brazil, Colombia,
Nicaragua and Panama in 2003, Costa Rica in
2004, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia in
2005 and Italy in 2006. In Malaysia, two Clearfield®
rice cultivars were developed by MARDI, namely,
MR220CL1 and MR220CL2. The latter variety,
MR220CL2 is the most widely planted cultivar in
Malaysia because it is shorter and matures earlier
than MR220CL1. The Clearfield® rice production
technology consists of three components, namely,
Clearfield® certified seeds, the OnDuty® herbicide
(premix formulation of imazapic and imazapyr at 3:1
ratio) and the stewardship guidelines. OnDuty® is
recommended to be applied at 0 to 7 days after sowing
(DAS) at 150 g /ha a.i
This innovative technology has benefitted the
rice industry in many countries by reducing the
weedy rice infestation and increasing rice yields. In
Malaysia, weedy rice-infested rice fields have shown
increase in rice yields from 3.5 to 7 metric tonnes /ha. Differences in weedy rice management between
Clearfield® and conventional rice system
Despite these advantages, there is concern regarding
the escape of the resistance trait from Clearfield®
rice cultivars to weedy or wild rice in cases where
weedy rice control is less than 100%. Natural
hybridization between the Clearfield® cultivars and
weedy rice is well documented. In North America
this could range from 0.003 to 0.46% depending on Weedy rice
the cultivars, weedy rice type and planting date. The
numbers may be low, but this equates to hundreds of
herbicide-resistant outcrosses per hectare. The risk
of outcrossing is expected to be higher in Malaysia
where two consecutive rice crops are planted per
year. Moreover, Malaysian weedy rice is highly
diverse in morphology and phenology. Molecular and
morphological studies conducted by local scientists
collectively have claimed that the local conventional
indica rice cultivars and wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) Clearfield®
populations genetically contributed to the complexity rice production
of weedy rice in Malaysia. Therefore, synchronization technology
in flowering period between the weedy and cultivated components
rice and genetic compatibility are expected to support
intermittent gene flow across these Oryza groups.
Recently, many complaints have been received
by MARDI from local farmers regarding the failure
of OnDuty® to control weedy rice in Clearfield®
rice fields. Based on a preliminary survey, most revealed that imidazolinone-resistant weedy rice
farmers planted Clearfield® rice for more than has been discovered in areas where stewardship
two consecutive seasons and some were extended was poor. Strict adherence to stewardship guidelines
to seven seasons. Unfortunately, several farmers of this technology will be the key to its continued
ignored the stewardship guidelines by purchasing success. Besides, seed laws become necessary in
uncertified seeds, spraying OnDuty® at inappropriate order to combat fraud, counterfeiting and bad quality
times or at reduced rates and cultivating Clearfield® seeds that are contaminated with weedy rice or
rice without using OnDuty® or using unregistered carry diseases. A good seed certification system that
imidazolinone products. These factors may have benefits the rice industry requires high commitment
resulted in the leakage of the resistance trait from and responsibility of all government agencies, private
Clearfield® rice to weedy or wild rice by natural industries and farmers.
hybridization. From the preliminary survey it was

A Bug’s Life By: Dr. Rosliza Jajuli

Agrobiodiversity and Environment Research Centre, MARDI

I
nsects are known as the most successful
creatures that make up as many as three-
quarters of animal species on earth. Many
would consider insects as their enemies as they
could only relate to insect pests such as the
mosquitoes that spread diseases and people just
could not care less about these creatures. However,
insects play a vital role in keeping our ecosystem
healthy. There are approximately 1.5 million
separate species of known insects on the planet
and there are still millions more that have yet
to be found and catalogued. Malaysia, famously
known as the 12th mega diverse country in the
world, is estimated to have 170,000 species of
invertebrates that consist of insects and worms.
Insect collections in Malaysia are maintained
by a few parties such as research institutes,
agriculture department and universities. In fact,
Malaysia already has its own Natural History
Museum (Muzium Alam Semulajadi) in Putrajaya
which showcases collections of flora and fauna.
However, these collections are still limited and not
specifically refer to insect collection associated with
agriculture. Fortunately, such facility is already
available for research and education purposes in
MARDI.
MARDI Insect Museum, which was developed
in the early 1980’s, holds one of the largest
collection of insect associated with agricultural
crops in Malaysia. The collection of insects
comprises of more than 31,000 specimens. These
specimens were collected from all over Malaysia
with different functions in the agro ecosystem such
as pest or beneficial insects (pollinators, predators
or parasitoids, biodecomposers or bioindicators).
Most of the collection dated since 1980’s but some
precious specimens are as old as 90 years back.
These specimens were donated by the Department
of Agriculture dated back to 1920’s. A majority of
the specimens was collected by MARDI researchers
during their surveys and research activities.
The main function of MARDI Insect Museum
is to provide scientific identification services. It
has become a referral centre for identification of
insects associated with agriculture in Malaysia.
Researchers, students and the general public are
welcome to visit the facility. Technical visits to the
Insect Museum by university students and school
children are part of education and awareness
programme in educating young generations on the
importance of insect biodiversity in agriculture.
The collection comprises of all groups of orders in
insects e.g Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths),
Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera
(bees) and others. Most of the bigger specimens
are pinned insects and kept in wooden cabinets.
However, some of the minute specimens such as
thrips, have to be mounted on glass slides. With
good maintenance and care, these insect collections
could be kept for a long time for future references.
10 March 2018

SUCCESS STORY
Multidetect Immunosensor for Precise
and Rapid Detection of Plant Pathogen
By: Rafidah Abd Rahman, Faridah Salam, Norhafniza Awaludin, Hazalina Zulkifli, Siti Noraini Bunawan,
Nur Sabrina Wahid and Zamri Ishak
Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, MARDI

D
iseased plants can exhibit a variety of
symptoms, making diagnosis extremely
difficult. Common symptoms include
abnormal leaf growth, colour distortion, stunted
growth, shrivelled plants and damaged pods.
Sometimes, however, symptoms may not be
visually detected because infection of some plant
pathogen causes no symptoms. It was reported
that about 20 – 30% of field crops are annually lost
due to diseases. In the case of rice tungro disease
or ‘penyakit merah’, a worldwide annual loss in
rice production of approximately US$1.5 billion and
5 – 10% reduction in rice yields in South and South
East Asia including Malaysia had been reported.
Once a plant is infected with such diseases, it will
remain infected until it dies, and so will its progeny.
Insect and aphid vectors feeding on infected plants
will go on to spread the disease further. Some of
the worst crop diseases are transmitted through
planting materials. New techniques are now
available which can produce seedlings free of virus
and other diseases. There are also new laboratory
techniques for the diagnosis and indexing of virus
diseases. However, problems still remain.
Distribution is another problem. Often disease-
free planting materials are not available in
sufficient numbers when farmers need them, or
else they are so expensive that farmers do not
want them. Since disease-free seedlings are quite
vulnerable to infection, another major problem is
how to keep them free of diseases after they are
planted out in the field.
As a general rule, most pests and diseases cannot
be completely eradicated, but they can be managed
and controlled to minimise the ‘collateral’ damage.
To manage potential problems, early identification,
correct diagnosis and the swift implementation of
preventive methods should allow you to get on top
of most problems before serious damage is inflicted.
That is why it is important to detect plant diseases
early on. Yet laboratory tests are costly and often
time-consuming.
Recently, researchers from MARDI developed
an immunosensor for early detection of Cucumber Cucumber leaves infected Papaya with papaya ring spot
Mosaic Virus (CMV), Papaya Ring Spot Virus with Cucumber Mosaic virus
(PRSV), Tungro and Anthracnose in crops. This Virus
immunosensor employs antibodies that are
specific to CMV, PRSV, Tungro and Anthracnose.
The specific antibodies are coated with gold
nanoparticles to improve sensitivity. These
antibodies can specifically target and dock onto the
pathogens. In addition, each plant disease comes
with its own antibody coated disposable strips which
can be easily applied on various sample matrices
and portable reader for results analysis in digital Infected chili with anthracnose
form (µg / mL or spore / mL) within five minutes.
This award winning technology is comparatively by law enforcement agencies/monitoring and
easier, cheaper and simpler and can be used in situ quarantine sections for field analysis.
as compared to the more expensive conventional This technology was awarded with a gold medal
methods which require devices such as ELISA and the ‘Sustainable Development Brussels Innova
and PCR. This breakthrough innovation is also 2016 Special Award’ at INNOVA 2016, Brussels,
expected to help on site pathogen identification Belgium.

From front page From page 3 MARDI-AVRDC Research Collaboration on

Legume Pod Borer Pest, Maruca vitrata
Saving the Future with The collaborative work achieved these particular objectives:

Sustainable Development 1. Six species of parasitoids were recorded from Maruca vitrata. Two larval
parasitoids (Therophilus javanus and Therophilus marucae) and an egg-larval
parasitoid (Phanerotoma sp.) were identified as species-specific of M. vitrata,
Goals same as reported in Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. These three species are
potential candidates for classical biological controls.
SDGs such as ending extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition; 2. Bacillus thuringiensis-based bio-pesticides were found to successfully control
promoting sustainable management of natural resources, including Maruca vitrata on long beans in the fields.
3. Shipments of dead specimens of Maruca vitrata adults and its pupae were
biodiversity, fisheries, forests, land, soils, water, and oceans; and
sent to Humboldt University Berlin, Germany to identify the chemical
mitigating while also adapting and building resilience to climate components of the sex pheromone.
change. FAO, being the specialized UN agency in charge of food and
agriculture, has a long history of working in all three dimensions The information gathered from this project would benefit all participating partners
of sustainable development ie; economic, social and environmental in addressing the damaging pest of M. vitrata on leguminous crops especially in
where its projects are designed to leave no one behind. FAO’s strategic Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. The development of an integrated
pest management (IPM) strategy with the components of natural enemies, pheromone
framework is broadly aligned with the SDGs and it has the technical lures and bio-pesticides is expected to reduce pesticide usage and increase the
capacity, global reach, monitoring expertise, and experience building consumption of safer vegetable legumes.
partnerships and shaping policy that are needed to support countries
in implementing the 2030 Agenda. a b c
The FAO has three key messages to achieve sustainable development;
(i) investment in food and agriculture will drive change across the
SDGs, (ii) to leave no one behind, it is a must to address the needs of
rural people and (iii) we can reach zero hunger if we work together.
Rural people make up nearly 80 percent of the extreme poor with an
estimated number at 3.5 billion people. Hence, there must be a focus d e f
on rural development and investment in agriculture, namely, crops,
livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. To eradicate extreme
poverty, reduce the greatest inequalities and foster inclusive growth,
we must promote a rural transformation programme that empowers
rural people as critical agents of change. This includes new policies The six parasitoids from Maruca vitrata found and recorded in Malaysia.
and programmes that promote sustainable food and agriculture a) Therophilus marucae; b) Therophilus javanus; c) Phanerotoma leucobasis;
to improve the livelihoods and resilience of smallholder farmers, d) Tiriclistus sp.; e) Trathala flavoorbitalis; f) Bracon sp.
foresters, fishermen, pastoralists and labourers, with particular focus a b
on rural women, indigenous peoples and youth. Tackling root causes
by targeting rural populations, providing access to social protection
programmes, committing to pro-poor investment and growth are also
important and can make or break achievement of the SDGs in most
countries. Most importantly, sustainable development requires the
commitment of everyone. All players and stakeholders need to share
knowledge in implementing and monitoring the SDGs. Then only,
the 2030 Agenda’s historic commitment to rid the world of the twin
scourges of poverty and hunger can become a reality. Pests of vegetable legumes.
a) Pod borer at larval stage; b) Moth of Maruca vitrata

By: Siti Norsuha Misman, Kogeethavani Ramachandran,
Elixon Sunian and Dr. Mazidah Mat
Paddy and Rice Research Centre, MARDI
MARDI SIRAJ 297
Panicle Blast Symptom Foliar Blast Symptom
MR269
Plant Pathogens: A Neglected Treasure
In Microbial Culture Collection
G
enerally plant pathogens are considered as
microorganisms that need to be eradicated and
have no economic value. Thus, pesticides were
introduced to treat these pathogens with the intention
to protect economic crops. However, continuous use of
pesticides in agriculture does not seem to control the
pathogens sustainably but somewhat just act as an
interim problem solving.
It is not too exaggerating when one says that since
the first introduction of pesticide and subsequently
lots more pesticide variants to date, various plant
pathogens still survived and evolved besides emergent
of new pathogens. However, from current databases,
the number of plant pathogens species found world-
wide are enormous. For fungi alone, approximately
10,000 species are known as being pathogenic to plants.
Considering the bacteria and viruses, the number is
likely to be much higher.
In many parts of the world, plant pathogens are
being conserved ex situ, i.e. in microbial culture
collection as records and references. However, changes
in disease management landscape are taking place as
a result of the current trends in trade liberalization by
WTO (World Trade Organization), fast movement of
commodities and people as well as fear of bioterrorism
through infectious plant diseases. Thus, more serious
attention is given to issues regarding plant diseases in
relation to food security and also the perception towards
plant pathogen collections and records as an important
business entity.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement
which ensures health status of member countries has
become the main part in import risk analysis. Hence,
governments have the responsibility to scientifically
demonstrate that in any trade rejection, it is done
essentially to protect health (plant, animal and human).
In this case, countries with intent to export products to
their target markets are required to provide scientific
evidence of any claims regarding the presence or absence
of pathogens. This information should provide details
about the geographical distribution of the pathogens
and their biology as well as the taxonomic status and
economic importance. It is not acceptable to claim that
a pest is ‘not known to occur’. Evidence needs to be
presented to support the assertion that the pest is “not
known to occur”. In this regard, pathogen specimen
SUCCESS STORY
Disease Resistant Varieties For
Sustainable Rice Production
A
strategy for sustaining food security is to depend
on self-sufficiency in the domestic production
of rice. However, susceptibility of high yielding
rice varieties to pests and diseases is one of the most
important limiting factors that affect rice production
causing yield loss. There are many pests and diseases
of rice but only a few of them, such as panicle blast,
bacterial leaf blight, sheath blight, Tungro and brown
plant hopper, cause dramatic yield and economic losses
due to severe outbreak. Despite using chemical controls
which are costly and environmentally undesirable,
deploying resistant varieties has been considered as
the most effective and economical approach to control
diseases.
Since 1964, MARDI released several rice varieties
with resistance to blast disease. Among the earliest blast
resistant varieties released were Malinja, Mahsuri and
Sekencang which later succumb to this disease. MR84
was one of the popular varieties released in 1986 and
reached 85% of varietal coverage throughout the rice
granary in 1994. This variety was planted for more than
15 years and it remained popular until the year 2000.
Practice of planting mono variety for a long term and in
a wide scale had attributed to the breakdown of MR84
to bacterial leaf blight (BLB) disease which caused an
outbreak. However, the introduction of MR167 and
MR185 varieties, which had some degree of resistance
to BLB, in 1995 and 1997 respectively, contributed to
lower BLB incidence in the field.
Tungro or locally known as Penyakit Merah Virus
(PMV) is a virus disease which is transmitted by green
leafhopper (GLH). One of the popular GLH resistant
varieties was MR159 which was introduced in 1995.
Even though this variety was not well accepted by
farmers in Peninsular Malaysia, it was a popular choice
in some of the tungro epidemic areas in Sabah.
In 2001, the most popular high yielding variety,
MR219, was introduced. When released, MR219 was
resistant to blast disease and moderately resistant
By: Dr. Tosiah Sadi
Agrobiodiversity and Environment Research Centre, MARDI
collection from properly conducted surveys are the only
internationally recognized proof of the existence (or
absence) of a pest in a country. This requirement also
applied to Malaysia as a signatory member of WTO.
Information on plant pathogen occurrence and
its collection will connects past, present and future
research activities and it provide an essential foundation
for basic research, forensics and risk assessment of
newly isolated pathogens. Comprehensive collections
and records of what has been isolated and studied
are essential as references for future exploration and
usage especially in commodity trading and protection of
bioweapons where agriculture is the target. However,
in Malaysia, activities in conserving plant pathogens
are given less emphasis and pathogen diversity in
ecosystem remains vastly under explored. Yet, the issue
of rejected consignment of agriculture products due
to microbial contamination at international market
is happening and need to be resolve by following SPS
agreement and Specific Guidelines for Phytosanitary
measures.
Climate change can influence the spread and
emergence of new diseases. The increase in human
population urges the need for efficient food production.
Banana blood or Moko disease? They produced similar symptoms but
caused by different pathogens
March 2018 11
to brown planthopper. The demand for this variety
increased due to its high yield potential of up to 10 t/
ha. Thus, there was an increase up to 66.8% and
85% in the varietal coverage of MR219 in Peninsular
Malaysia in 2004 and 2010 respectively. Being a major
variety planted in a large area for a long term caused
MR219 to be more vulnerable to rapid adaptation of
high variability of the pathogen (pathotype) population
in the field. This situation eventually caused serious
blast disease outbreak in 2004 and 2009. Later, MR 263
and MR253 were released in 2010 followed by MR269
in 2012 as a way of managing blast disease outbreak at
that time.
A newly released variety, MARDI Siraj 297 which
is resistant to blast and slightly resistant to BLB is
expected to contribute to the increase of genetic diversity
in the field. Incorporated resistance in a variety will also
lower the pathogen population pressure, resulting in
less frequent applications of pesticides.
Currently, MARDI is moving towards increasing
genetic diversity of modern rice varieties through
resistance breeding and deployment of different
resistant genes based on an understanding of the
pathogen population structures to enhance their
durability. Disease management through the use of
genetic diversity can contribute to the development
of durable resistance, secure the rice yield, generate
farmers’ income and conserve genetic resources.
Nevertheless, over depending on the varietal
capability without practising proper crop management
system may not prolong the sustainability of the variety.
The varietal resistance management practices should be
applied to sustain and prolong the varietal resistance
and its defence mechanisms. These include reducing
excessive fertilizer application, using minimal seed
rate, optimization of plant density, varietal rotation
and understanding the host (resistance gene)-pathogen
(pathotype) interaction on severe disease incidence.
Development of new resilient plant cultivars and any
potential breeding materials need to be challenged with
the pathogens to ensure the plants can survive when
stressed. Hence, the understanding of the pathogen
genetic makeup is very useful as they might constitute
potentially significant biotechnology resources of
particular important for genetic improvement.
Microbial culture collection of plant pathogens plays
an integral part to protect plant health at an early stage
or to encourage trade of horticultural fresh produce.
Thus, reference cultures with phenotypic identification
labels can facilitate the identification and control of
newly emerging pathogens. Although MARDI has
started the plant pathogen collection in the eighties, and
more than 1,000 pathogen strains have been conserved,
the growth of the collection is considered slow because
priorities are given more towards product development.
Nonetheless, we really hope that Malaysia will give a
seriously tremendous effort in collecting, documenting,
and conserving plant pathogens for research and
reference especially when agriculture biosecurity issues
become the concern. These pathogens should be fairly
treasured at par with other beneficial microbes as they
have their own roles in harmonizing our ecosystem.
Colletotrichum sp.
a pathogen that
infect a wide range
of plants
Exserohilum spp.
the weed pathogen
that is exploited as
bioherbicides
12 March 2018
EVENT
Malaysia hosted the 5th
International Symposium on
Biological Control of Arthropods
By: Badrulhadza Amzah
Crops and Soil Science Research Centre, MARDI
Regional Workshop On Protected Cultivation
of High-Value Crops Under Changing Climate
Conditions By: Nur Aida Mohd Padzil
Corporate Communication and Quality Centre, MARDI
F
or the third time, MARDI and Food and
Fertilizer Technology Center for Asian and
the Pacific (FFTC) have worked together to
jointly organize the “Regional Workshop on Protected
Cultivation of High-Value Crops under Changing
Climate Conditions” which was successfully held
from 12-14 September 2017 in MARDI Serdang.
The workshop brought together 50 participants
from local and abroad (Cambodia, India, Indonesia,
Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan,
Thailand, Vietnam and the Netherlands). The three-
day programme covered two days Workshop and one
day Technical Visit. This programme was officially
opened by the Secretary General, Ministry of
Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, Malaysia.
The workshop gathered international experts
in the area of protected cultivation to update the
current status of various technological components
of protected cultivation of high-value crops such as
designing of structures for tropical and sub-tropical
agro-climatic conditions, micro-environmental
control, ideal modules on irrigation, integrated crop
management and integrated pest management.
Besides, this workshop was also used as a platform
to look at transition pathways and associated
FOOD WASTE:
A Moral Issue
By: Dr. Ainu Husna M S Suhaimi
Corporate Communication and Quality Centre, MARDI
F
ood waste is not just an economic or environment
issue, it is a moral issue. This message was
clearly indicated by the Danish Minister of
Environment and Food during the opening speech of
the World Food Summit 2017. It is not right that 33%
of all food produced is thrown away. It is even worse
this happens when over 10% of the global population
do not even have enough food to lead a healthy
lifestyle.
The two day World Food Summit 2017 was held
in scenic Copenhagen, Denmark in August 2017. The
yearly summit gathers more than 200 experts and
key players in the food industry to discuss, debate
and deliberate issues, actions and directions related
to food. The theme for this year’s summit, “Better
food for more people” is very apt. Sustainability and
efficiency are the keys to ensure more people have
access to fresh, safe and healthy food. The summit
was divided into four areas; Food Gastronomy, Food
Diversity, Safety and Waste. Speakers, decision
makers and experts from governments, industries and
social enterprises and movements from all corners of
the globe gathered to discuss and ultimately to find
solutions to all challenges we are facing.
Globally, food waste is a massive issue throughout
the supply chain. It can happen on farms, processing
premises, distribution centres, food providers and
I
n September 2017, Malaysia was chosen as
the host for the 5th International Symposium
on Biological Control of Arthropods (ISBCA).
Jointly organized by CABI South East Asia and the
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development
Institute (MARDI), the event was held at Meritus
Pelangi Hotel in Langkawi Island, Kedah. The local
organising committee comprised of Dr. Loke Wai
Hong and Dr. A. Sivapragasam from CABI together
with Dr. Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor, MARDI’s
Deputy Director General, and his team. More than
130 biological control scientists and personnel from
private sectors from 25 countries came together from
11 – 15 September 2017 to participate in the global
flagship conference on biological control of arthropods
using parasitoids and predators.
The main aim of the symposium was to create a
meeting for biological control practitioners, a forum
for information exchange, an event to build cohesion
among the research community and to foster
discussions of issues affecting biological control work,
particularly pertaining to the use of parasitoids and
predators as biological control agents. This included all
approaches to biological control such as conservation,
augmentation and importation of natural enemy
species to control arthropod pests, as well as other
transversal issues related to its implementation. It
was a privilege for Malaysia as the 2017 event was
held in Asia for the very first time. It was also part of
the ISBCA goal to be truly international. ISBCA 2017
was officiated by Dato’ Ir. Haji Nawawi Bin Ahmad,
requirements towards establishing protected
cultivation, and cooperation in the sector to move
towards market-based pricing in order to reflect
improved products and innovation.
The outcomes of the workshop are to enlighten
all relevant parties to address major issues such as
technical feasibility of different types of protected
cultivation, economic benefits for the growers, food
quality and safety for the consumers as well as
environmental protection. There is a lot of information
sharing among the participating countries that will
be of great benefit.
In this programme, Malaysia was represented
by two scientists from MARDI (Ir. Mat Sharif
Ismail, Principal Scientist of Engineering Research
Centre and Ms. Farahzety Abdul Mutalib-Senior
Scientist of Horticulture Research Centre). Ir. Mat
Sharif was given the honour to present a Position
Paper entitled ‘Design Optimization of Greenhouse
Environment in Tropical Climate using Specific
Air Space Stratification Technique’ whilst Ms.
Farahzety represented Malaysia as a Country
Report Presenter with her paper titled “Protected
Cultivation Technologies of Vegetable Production in
Malaysia”. Participation from Malaysia also came
all living premises. This amounts to a whopping 1.3
billion metric tonnes costing US$1 trillion. Looking at
the magnitude of this issue, tackling waste is surely
not an easy task. It involves so many processes and
events throughout the ‘value chain’. Hence, during
the summit, many challenges were discussed and
identified. However, several key areas that needs to
be rectified were awareness, regulations, standards
as well as inefficient food production systems.
Creating awareness in the true value of food to
all members of the food industry is vital to ensure
that food is not wasted. Awareness is not just to
inform people why food should not be wasted but to
encourage people to be more creative in finding ways
not to waste food. Utilising surplus foods to create
new recipes and dishes can really revolutionise the
way we tackle the issue. Some examples we were
shown (and tasted!) were making crackers out of
leftover potato bread, or soy-sauce like flavours from
egg whites.
Another major challenge for curbing food waste
is the regulations and standards which are vital in
ensuring the safety and well-being of consumers.
However, it was unanimously agreed that some
standards especially those related to sizes and
cosmetic traits should be less strict. of attention and awareness in this issue. Denmark
Communication is the key in all relationships,
even along the food supply chain. Miscommunication
between demand and supply can cause over-
production which results in unavoidable waste. There
was a general urge that everyone should indicate their
needs accurately so that planning of food production
can be done in a more efficient manner. This would
apply to everyone from distributors, retailers and
consumers.
Langkawi Member of Parliament. In his speech, he
had high hopes that technologies on biological control
of crop pests will keep on developing and become a
great tool to farmers.
Fourteen sessions were organized during the
symposium to address the most relevant and current
topics in the field of biological control of arthropods
which were delivered by invited speakers. More than
50 posters were presented by scientists, postgraduate
and postdoctoral students. Topics covered were
diverse including the positive and negative aspects
of accidental introductions of biocontrol agents,
the importance of pre and post release genetics
in biological control, the non-target impacts in
arthropod biological control, regulation and policies
relating to biological control, diversity of biocontrol
agents, how pesticides affect biocontrol agents and
socio-economic impacts of biological control. Some of
these topics have remained as important issues since
the first meeting in 2002.
from ministries (MOA and MOSTI), Department of
Agriculture (DOA), universities (UPM and UTM) and
private agency (Enza Zaden Sdn Bhd).
For the technical visit, participants were brought
to visit Green World Genetics Sdn Bhd (GWG)
in Rawang. This company has strong focus on
research and development of tropical hybrid seeds
as well as improvement of agricultural produce. The
participants also visited the Control Environment
Mushroom House at Engineering Research Centre,
MARDI Serdang where they were introduced to the
technology of high value mushroom production under
controlled environment with an application of IoT
(Internet of Things), developed by MARDI.
Denmark does have a good national awareness
on food waste. The government initiatives, lead
by The Ministry of Food and Environment has
developed two food waste related national strategies;
National Food Waste Strategy in 2010, and Denmark
without Waste in 2015. Among key approaches of
the strategies included getting commitments from
relevant partners and encouraging initiatives to
reduce waste by providing subsidies and grants. One
interesting project was to find ways to reshape and
package unsold out of shape vegetables directly to
kitchen instead of throwing them away. Apart from
government efforts, social movements tackling waste
in Denmark are inspiring. The “Stop Wasting Food”
movement founded by Selina Juul has stirred a lot
also has a very active food bank, Danish Food Bank,
collecting surplus food from companies and currently
donating them to numerous charity organizations.
Other creative initiatives include a surplus food
supermarket, WeFood, which sells food products
at reduced prices and a movement called Rub and
Stub, co-founded by three enthusiastic ladies, selling
surplus food-based menu in a restaurant as well as
teaching students and organisations how to reduce
food waste in the kitchen.