Farmers produce 150,000 tonnes pineapples per season
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Pineapple farmers in Kampung Sungai Mata Scheme here are now quietly producing 150,000 tonnes of the fruits to generate RM10.5 million per season.
The project, initiated by Integrated Agriculture Development Agency ( IADA) in 2004, is the most successful out of 80 groups of pineapple farmers under the supervision of Malaysia Pineapple Board ( MPB) in Sarawak.
Project manager Sahat Tar, when met at the farm, told The Borneo Post the overall project covers 600 acres, but only half of the land is cultivated with the fruits involving 170 participants.
“There are about 90 active participants working on the 300 acre site, some working on five acres plot, some on 10, 15 or 20 acres plot respectively,” he explained.
Each acre of the land, he added, are cultivated with 17,000 pineapple saplings that take nine months to grow before they can be harvested.
“You do the math, one acre 17,000 fruits at RM3 each, multiply by the acreage of their land and divide by nine months,” he said, adding that their plants were planted to mature at weekly interval to ensure regular income for the farmers and continuous supply for their buyers.
The cost is ever increasing, Sahat stressed, as they have to buy their own pest and weed control, seedlings and pay for the labourers’ salaries.
“I must say the net income from the farm is only about RM3 to RM4 million, because RM10.5 million is just a gross estimation based on the calculation of about RM15,000 generated from each acre each season without taking into account our cost,” he explained.
Sahat is very happy to note that the farm participants are also venturing into cottage industry by turning odd sized fruits into jam, pineapple sauce and cordials.
“Nothing goes to waste, the three products are getting very good demand from the local market,” he added.
Sahat said they are planting mainly the local varieties like K36, Josapine, Morris and Nenas Pound Sarawak – plus a little bit of hybrid pineapple such as MD2.
The success, according to Sahat, is due to the help from state and federal government agencies that offer training, guidance and many incentives to the local farmers.