Fruity fun in store

(From left) Mohamad Khairil, PKPS corporate strategy general manager Rosnani Abdul Malek and Raja Muhammad Faiz showing the fruits on sale at the Selangor Fruit Valley.

A CAFE in a vanilla greenhouse. Glamping facilities offering overnight stays. A garden of rare fruit trees.

These are the new attractions visitors to the Selangor Fruit Valley (SFV) in Batang Berjuntai will be able to look forward to.

Announcing this during a media familiarisation trip, Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) group chief executive Datuk Dr Mohamad Khairil Mohamad Razi said the new attractions have been introduced to meet visitor expectations to the popular agropark.

“People are now seeking a more holistic tourism experience. They don’t only want to visit a destination. They want to spend more time there,” he said.

PKPS manages the agropark offering visitors an immersive experience at its fruit and vegetable farms.

The park also houses a petting zoo and offers a host of argricultural-related activities in its tour packages.

Artist’s impression of future projects at Selangor Fruit Valley a glamping site featuring air-conditioned lakeside cabins with private bathrooms

In planning stages

With new cafes sprouting up everywhere, the mention of one opening up at this park may not seem like such a big deal.

The draw, however, lies in its unique concept.

The 68.84sqm food-and-beverage outlet will be housed within a greenhouse surrounded by vanilla plants.

“Vanilla Cafe is expected to begin operations this October and will offer the experience of dining in a garden.

“The design concept will feature nature-themed furniture with landscaping made of tropical ornamental plants,” said Mohamad Khairil.

“The cafe will also have an information walkway on vanilla cultivation, giving exposure on its cultivation methods, products and the commercial value of vanilla as a commodity in Malaysia.

Artist’s impression of future projects at Selangor Fruit Valley he Vanilla Cafe in a greenhouse. — Courtesy of Selangor Fruit Valley

“The main objective of this cafe is to act as a sales and promotion platform for high-value crop products developed by the Agriculture Centre of Excellence (ACE), a research and development hub located right under the Carambola Pavilion, an event space in SFV,” he said.

Currently, ACE laboratory is doing research to propagate disease-free, high-yielding vanilla plantlets through tissue culture to support local agropreneurs.

These aromatic pods, which are popular flavours in ice-cream and cakes, can fetch a market price of no less than RM1,500 per kilogramme in dried form.

The cafe is currently in the interior design phase where the preparation of kitchen facilities and cafe furniture is underway.

Visitors can expect a menu themed around the aromatic pod, with items like vanilla latte and vanilla french toast.

Making use of the park’s strategic location as a stargazing spot is a new glamping and camping site that can accommodate about 200 people.

Artist’s impression of future projects at Selangor Fruit Valley separate camping activity sites for men and women.

The glamping site will feature fully equipped lakeside cabins with air-conditioning and private bathrooms.

There will be two designated camping areas – one for women, another for men.

“Operations are expected to begin mid-2027. Construction of clean water and electricity sources has been completed.

“We are now in the process of obtaining the necessary approvals for the planning permission, technical specifications and safety standards,” said Mohamad Khairil.

Tractor rides and a mini zoo, where ostriches are the star attraction, are favourite draws at the fruit valley.

Among the leisure activities planned for this site is an open-air cinema and an outdoor playground and barbecue.

Barbecue pits will also be included in the list of facilities with jungle trekking and water activities offered as well.

As part of its conservation initiative, the park has allocated 0.8ha to grow rare fruit species near Rumah Kampung, an event space built in the style of a traditional wooden village house in the park.

This project serves as a sanctuary for Malaysian rare fruits that are in danger of extinction or have become increasingly difficult to find.

There are altogether 27 types of trees – 25 are rare fruits like the belimbing buluh and kandis burung, one is a forest tree and the other is a commodity tree.

Visitors passing by a field of pineapple plants.

“The trees have all been planted and are currently growing.

“The project is now in the hardscape construction phase of walkways and shade huts.

“At the same time, landscaping work is actively underway.

“Operations are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027,” said Mohamad Khairil.

Training and interactive explanations on the conservation of local species as well as fruit picking, which will depend on seasonality, are activities that will be included in the guided orchard tour package for this section.

Visitors having fun during a durian-tasting session while chatting with (standing from left) PKPS head of public relations Iwan Shu-Aswad Shuaib, Mohamad Khairil and Raja Muhammad Faiz.

Visitors’ draw

In 2025, SFV recorded about 100,000 visitors.

With the addition of new products and experiences, SFV is targeting 150,000 visitors this year, further strengthening its role as one of Selangor’s key agrotourism destinations.

This year, the number of visitors for January alone has reached the 52,000 mark.

SFV senior manager Raja Muhammad Faiz Raja Ba Zaid, who has been with the park for 12 years, said 30% of its visitors were foreign tourists.

Pygmy goats at the petting zoo within a herb garden in the fruit valley.

“Our biggest market is from China. They often go for our premium package which is RM200 per head. It includes a durian- tasting session.

“This is followed by tourists from India, Singapore and the Philippines who go for fruit picking packages involving guavas, MD2 pineapples and pandan coconuts.

“The Japanese like our salted egg-making session.

“We have also had Russian visitors before,” he said.

Raja Muhammad Faiz emphasised that the agropark was more than just a tourist draw.

Up to 40% of the local fruits found in Selangor comes from SFV. Among them is the nangchem, a cross between cempedak and jackfruit, which occupies 12.14ha in the 646ha park.

One favourite activity for visitors at the Selangor Fruit Valley is plucking fruits on their own.

Raja Muhammad Faiz said nangchem was developed by ACE through the grafting process in 2018.

“We also have 12 greenhouses spread across 1.21ha of land planted with melosel, a melon variety developed specifically for Selangor, also in 2018,” he said.

The agropark offered a lot of education value, observed Mohamad Izzat Ismail, popularly known as Cikgu Mail.

The social media influencer is a farmer himself, managing a 4ha orchard growing a variety of local fruits.

“I have been here twice with my family,” said the father-of- three whose children are aged 11, nine and three.

“It is a good way to teach the young that food does not come from the supermarket, but the ground,” he added.

SFV recorded revenue of RM7mil in 2025, gained from fruit and vegetable sales, agrotourism activities, sales of ACE products and land rental to agricultural entrepreneurs.

Nur Izyan showing a banana plant disease test kit and stevia drops. In front of her are products developed by ACE, such as banana and vanilla plants.

While waiting for these new attractions to be ready, visitors to this agropark may savour freshly made vanilla ice-cream at the ACE booth beside the Eco Bridge.

Here is also where ACE products like stevia drops, kits to test for diseases in banana plants as well as answers to enquiries about the tissue culture process for the cavendish and berangan varieties can be obtained.

“If you have the parent plant, we can do the propagation.

“There is no development cost. We will only charge for the seedlings at a rate of RM2.50 per polybag, but discounts will be given for purchases above 5,000 units,” said ACE assistant manager Nur Izyan Syaminie.