By Faiz Hamzah
Photo by Hamdan Md Ali and Noor Azreen Awang
SERDANG, 8 Nov - Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has collaborated with Agrobank in organising the Agrobank-UPM Agriculture Certification Programme (AU-ACP) 2018 to provide exposure to Agrobank officers about the latest scenarios in the field of agriculture.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Industry and Community Relations), Prof. Dato’ Dr. –Ing. Renuganth Varatharajoo said that the programme is developed specifically for Agrobank officers who do not have an academic background in the agricultural sector.
“The six-month course under the programme is able to improve the competency of bank officers to understand and increase their knowledge in the agricultural field as well as produce competent human capital,” he said.
Also present was the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof Dr. Abdul Shukor Juraimi.
The Chairman of Agrobank, Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal said that the programme is a symbol of strategic collaboration between UPM and Agrobank to acquire general knowledge as well as the latest updates in agriculture and business activities.
“The implementation of this programme shows the high commitment by the top management of Agrobank to increase the ability and skills of bank officers in their daily service operations, and we have fixed a long term target to train our officers in stages,” he explains.
UPM has successfully produced 30 graduates beginning from March 2017 until September 2017 and now has 41 more graduates.
The first series of the course is divided into two areas, crop and livestock. In the second series it is further enhanced with two other areas, commodity crop and aquaculture, to ensure participants are able to master all the different areas in the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile, Best Overall Graduate, Zubaidah Hamad from Agrobank Pahang branch mentioned that one of the reasons she succeeded throughout the programme was to stay disciplined in everything that she does.
“I was committed in everything that I did and felt very attracted to the learning modules such as the livestock module because I was able to be familiar with the methods of rearing livestock process. The teaching staff was also excellent and committed in teaching.
“The challenge was in the midst of a hectic workday, I have to carefully divide my time for learning and completing assignments so that each assignment can be submitted according to the deadlines given by lecturers,” she said.
The recipient of the Best Graduate Award (Animal Science), Sudarveli a/p Krishnan from Agrobank Semenyih branch, said she was very excited with the certificate giving ceremony as it is a sign that their success is celebrated.
“I am grateful and thankful that the organisation of this collaborated programme between Agrobank and UPM was able to give us exposure to the agricultural sector,” she said.
Other award recipients are Emy Ramie Iliaihanie Abd Rani for Best Graduate Award (Food Crops), Fazleyani Sarif for Best Graduate Award (Commodity Crops) and Sharifah Zaharah Syed Redzwan for Best Graduate Award (Aquaculture). - UPM
