Orchard owners told to modernise

MELAKA: Orchard owners in Melaka, especially in Klebang, have been told that they must be willing to carry out a transformation of their farm management in order to obtain higher yields.

Klebang assemblyman Datuk Lim Ban Hong said the transformation should encompass planting and marketing methods, as well as diversifying farm produce by using a more modern and sophisticated medium.

“There are still orchard owners who manage their farms in a traditional way. They need to change by using more modern equipment and farming system.

“This will gradually reduce their dependence on foreign workers,” he told Bernama after visiting the Chan Agrotech guava orchard in Jalan Setulang Daeng, Kampung Bukit Rambai here yesterday.

He said the transformation was necessary as it would require a lot of energy and manpower to manage an orchard, and current restrictions on the entry of foreign labour would pose a problem.