MELAKA: After facing difficulties in selling vegetables and losing thousands of ringgit each day following the movement control order last year, Abdul Halim Abdullah decided to turn to Lohan guava (GU16) farming.
Abdul Halim, 45, who has been cultivating vegetables such as chillies and eggplants for the past 13 years, said he made the decision after income from his telecommunications contractor job also suffered during the MCO period.
He now concentrates fully on Lohan guava or jambu batu cultivation.
Today, he has three farms over a 2.83ha area around Kampung Tengah, Pulau Gadong here, which are planted with about 1,000 trees.
“In the beginning, there were endless problems including issues over marketing which resulted in the fruits going to waste until I began to collaborate with the Melaka Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).
“Alhamdulillah, the guava trees that I planted have reached maturity and can produce two tonnes of fruits to enable me to generate an income of RM10,000 a week,” Abdul Halim told Bernama at his farm in Pulau Gadong here.
Apart from supplying them to Fama in Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Melaka, he also supplies his farm produce to about 50 small traders and a wholesaler in the state.
According to Abdul Halim, the eight-tonne monthly supply was at times not sufficient for markets outside Melaka, so he was currently working on a GU16 pilot project with six friends for the cultivation of 2,000 trees on a 3.24ha site in Jalan Setulang Daeng, Bukit Rambai.
“The group project took off in early October and the trees are being planted in stages and will be fully completed by December.
“This would be followed by another project on a 6.47ha site in Bukit Katil early next year,” he said.
“The projects are implemented to meet the growing demand for Lohan guava and my aim is to produce at least 10 tonnes of guava a week by the end of next year,” said Abdul Halim, who comes from a family of farmers.
He now has four full-time employees, including a person with disabilities, to assist him in the three farms.
Abdul Halim said he initiated the group farming project to share his experience and help his friends generate good income equivalent to that of professional workers.
“Growing vegetables and growing Lohan guava is different especially in terms of capital, workload and burden of risk,” he said, adding that he has never regretted switching to guava cultivation.
He has received encouraging responses on the quality of the Lohan guava from buyers who have now become his regular customers as the fruits are sweet, crunchy and juicy.
In terms of pricing, Abdul Halim said the guavas were sold directly from the farms at RM5 per kilogramme for A-grade fruits, while B-grade ones were sold at RM4 and C-grade, at RM3.
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