In a collaborative effort to restore New Kopisan’s historical landscape of a coffee hill, which also translates to “Kopisan”, UTAR and the community of New Kopisan jointly organised the “Coffeetional” Coffee Tree Plantation 2020 contest to encourage the involvement of New Kopisan residents in cultivating coffee trees. Other co-organisers of the contest also included Kopi 3 Enterprise and Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) China.

The contest, which is planned to be held annually, was part of the collaborative project between UTAR and New Kopisan to inculcate interest and develop knowledge and skills among the community to grow and care for coffee trees, which will be planted throughout the village. As of now, it is estimated that over 2,000 coffee trees have been planted throughout the village. The goal of the project is to establish New Kopisan as a tourist attraction and bring about sustainable tourism, which will drive the development of the village and improve the community’s livelihood.

“Having the opportunity to work with the Village Head and Director of Kopi 3 Enterprise Chen Kong Hoy on this project is amazing because we are able to be part of the effort to ensure the sustainability of the plantation project. It is also a good platform for us to contribute to the community by providing training for the residents on planting coffee trees, caring for the coffee trees, and harvesting and selling the coffee beans for side income,” said Faculty of Science (FSc) Department of Agricultural and Food Science Head Dr Ong Mei Kying.

She added, “At a more significant level, this project aims to help the village achieve sustainability, specifically, sustainable tourism, which will boost the village’s tourism economy, create local jobs, promote its culture and products, and ultimately improve the livelihood of the residents. Jobs that are created from sustainable tourism of the village will also provide employment availability in surrounding towns to attract graduates to remain and help in contributing to their own village. Sustainable tourism is also emphasised in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 12, and 14. This project also achieves SDG 15. These SDGs, outlined by the United Nations (UN) are important to ensure peace and prosperity of the people and planet, now and into the future.”

The contest was only opened to the residents of New Kopisan and the judging session was conducted on 12 December 2020, while the prize-giving ceremony was held on 10 April 2021, with compliance to strict Covid-19 safety standard operating procedure (SOP). The panel of judges, who were selected for their expertise and experience in growing horticultural crops, consisted of FSc Dean Assoc Prof Dr Lim Tuck Meng, Dr Ong, and Department of Agricultural and Food Science academics, namely Dr Clement Wong Kiing Fook, Dr Tan Ji and Tong Pei Sin. Also present at the prize-giving ceremony was UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong.

A total of 37 coffee trees were evaluated and they were judged based on three criteria. The first criterion was the plant’s physiology and growth, whereby judges evaluated the plant’s height, leaf appearance and health, colour and appearance of the fruit, dimensions of the fruits, damage to the trunk, the density of the canopy leaves, and fruit to leaf ratio. The second criterion was pest and plant disease management, whereby the plants were evaluated for signs of insect infestations and oozing sap, presence of fungal or bacterial leaf sports, and presence of diseased branches or stems. The last criterion was good agricultural practices, including pruning, fertilisation and mulching practices.

The winners were:

1st Prize – Chin Thai Fong 陈大方 (Coffee Tree code: 007), cash prize RM1,000
2nd Prize – Phang Kim Chong潘金昌 (Coffee Tree code: 032)
3rd Prize – Loh Chun Wah 罗振华 (Coffee Tree code: 001)

Photos courtesy from the committee.