The community farm at Flora Heights apartment in Bandar Seri Alam is a space where the residents can gather and socialise.
WHAT started as a gardening hobby for 30 women in Taman Mawar several years ago is now a benchmark for all community farms in Pasir Gudang, Johor.
According to housewife Normah Kassim, the group started growing plants on a 0.2ha piece of land provided by the local authority, which was in front of their houses in Jalan Mawar 60, back in 2019.
“It started small – a few banana trees, pandan plants and herbs – and was upgraded by Pasir Gudang City Council (MBPG), who also helped to provide turmeric, lemongrass and chilli, in June last year.
“The group then cleared away more bushes and organised the garden with other cash crops such as brinjal, corn, ridge gourd and bottle gourd.
“About six months ago, the council recognised our efforts by setting it as a benchmark for community farms in the city,” said Normah, who is Taman Mawar Women Community Farm chief.
Normah (second from right) with other Taman Mawar Women Community Farm members showing their freshly harvested corn, chilli and herbs.
She added that a majority of its members were engineers and accountants who worked in the Pasir Gudang Industrial Area.
The former human resources trainer said the farm was also a place for the community to buy vegetables and fruits at prices that were lower than other nearby community farms.
“Those interested in buying can head to a shed that we have set up to select the produce,” Normah said, adding that members would usually gather at the farm from 8am to 10am daily.
The group also learnt about another garden located about 20 minutes away, which began the same year, through social media and has been helping them sell their produce.
Some of the vegetables were from Duku Community Farm in Taman Kota Masai, said Mohd Hafis Mohd Razali, who lives close to that green space.
The 43-year-old said he sold burgers for 16 years before quitting and trying his luck at farming.
“We started growing chillies first, but we found that the plant was a bit hard to manage as insects often attacked them.
Mohd Hafis with brinjal plants that have been harvested twice this year.
“We also tried planting 1,800 polybags of ginger but we found out the hard way that it would take about 12 hours just to harvest and clean 10kg of ginger,” he said.
The farm, he added, which was around 0.7ha, used a fertigation method, where fertilisers were delivered to plants through an irrigation system.
Mohd Hafis, along with 18 others, aim to modernise the farm by installing AI-based equipment and machines.
“We are heading in that direction in phases because we want to reduce the workload, especially in distributing fertilisers.
“With AI, the system can identify and even predict the nutrients needed by plants and provide them directly to the ones that need them, which is better than just spraying the fertiliser around all plants.
Some chilli plants at the community farm in Taman Mawar.
“These systems have already been implemented at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), and we hope do the same here,” he said, adding that the installation cost was around RM6,000.
Tee says the residents’ daily routine starts at 7am.Mohd Hafis said the farm could generate around RM8,000 every harvesting cycle or six months.
For former teacher Tee Lay Ting, 65, the farm in her community is used as a gathering space for the elderly living at Flora Heights apartment in Bandar Seri Alam.
“We have 11 members in our group who are pensioners and spend their free time gardening.
“Our daily routine starts at 7am, where we clean and harvest what we can and give to members or sell to the community.
“The money is used to buy what the farm needs, like seedlings and fertilisers.
“The plants are grown either through fertigation or hydroponic methods, with some directly placed in the ground.
“The ones planted in the ground usually need more attention,” she said, adding that a majority of the plants were chilli and brinjal.
Tee, who is also community farm chairman, hopes that the farm can be used by other members of the community to help those in need.
Zainelah says the community also makes its own compost fertiliser.At Kenari Kangkar Pulai Urban Farm, its chief Zainelah Md Zin, 49, said the community farm had helped residents obtain needed vegetables without having to travel far.
“During the Covid-19 lockdown, people would come to buy our vegetables and we would sell out every day, especially the bird’s eye chilli, brinjal, lemongrass and pandan.
“We also have herbs such as misai kucing, ulam raja and turmeric leaves,” she said, adding that the community also made its own compost fertiliser.
The farm was set up in 2018 and received a lot of help from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP), she added.
“We are often engaged by government agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to share our knowledge on taking care of plants and farms in general.
“At the moment, there are four pocket areas around our block that we have turned into an urban farm,” she said, adding that residents had also been supportive in helping to keep the plants from being damaged or polluted.
Malati says the residents let the soil rest after every cycle.Kenari Kangkar Pulai Urban Farm member S. Malati, 37, said the committee was open to suggestions on what types of plants residents wanted to get easily.
“So far, the focus has been on quick cash crops such as chilli as the harvesting period is short, besides curry leaves and lemongrass.
“But usually, after every cycle, we would let the soil rest for a couple of months before starting again.
“We would get recommendations from residents on what they wanted and plant those if we can,” she said.
The mother of five added that the farm had also become a way for some members, especially housewives, to earn a side income.
