Summary: Goh Kah Joo (GKJ)

1982

B.Sc. in Agriculture

University Pertanian Malaysia (UPM)

1992

M.Sc. in Biological Computation (Distinction)

University of York, UK

1982 – 1983

Tutor

University Pertanian Malaysia

1983 – 1986

Assistant Agronomist

Taiko Plantations S/B

1986 – 2004

Agronomist, Principal Research Officer and Section Head, Information Management Section

Applied Agricultural Research S/B

2004 – 2006

Agronomist, Principal Research Officer and Section Head, Information Management Section

Advanced Agriecological Research S/B

2006 – 2007

Agronomist, Deputy Head of Advanced Agriecological Research

Advanced Agriecological Research Sdn. Bhd.

2007 – 2011

Agronomist, Deputy Director of Research

Advanced Agriecological Research Sdn. Bhd.

2012 – Present

Director of Research

Advanced Agriecological Research Sdn. Bhd.

My main job function is to provide sound agronomic advices on oil palm and cocoa to our Principals and their estates, and our advisory clients’ estates. Towards this end, I design, lead and/or conduct research on cocoa and oil palm agronomy, soil and plant nutrition, nutrient dynamics, soil and water conservation, and 3D model and visualization of oil palm growth and production. I also lead the team in soil survey and feasibility study. As Section Head for Information Management Section, I am responsible for strategic data and information management, development of a decision support system for plantation crop management, statistical and mathematical data analysis, applications of remote sensing, GIS and GPS in plantation management, spatial data analysis and interpretation, and web page development. I was also a consultant to Cenipalma on fertilizer recommendation system of oil palm. My overall mission is to assist the estate management achieves and maintains the site yield potentials at the lowest cost possible through ever better and latest management practices, taking into account the environment and land ecology.

My main interests are in soil and plant nutrition of plantation tree crops and its dynamics. I am also interested in the general agronomy and management of plantation tree crops. The research group uses mathematical, statistical and computational methods to understand the spatio-temporal relationships between the various agronomic and management factors affecting soil nutrient supply, plant nutrition, fertilizer use efficiency and fertilizer requirements. Tools such as remote sensing and GIS, and methods such as pattern recognition and artificial intelligience are also employed to investigate the above and develop techniques for large-scale assessments of the plant and management performances. The team has recently embarked on the study of water dynamics and water use efficiency in oil palm ecosystem, and the importance and dynamics of living green manure (and probably organic matter) in plantation tree crop management.

Lately, I have been involved in the measurement of greenhouse gases from forest, sago and oil palm ecosystems to further understand the impact of anthropogenic agricultural activities on the potential global climate change.

I welcome collaborative research in any of the above areas in tropical tree crops.

Have led or directly involved in the development of the following products: