GrasiCili opens opportunity for ‘office workers’ to join chilli planting industry via virtual JVs
SHAH ALAM: GrasiCili Plt, a large-scale chilli growing company, has opened up opportunities for office workers and professionals who are interested in ge ing involved in the chilli cultivation industry through virtual joint ventures (JVs).
Its founder Munir Ashim Abdullah said that through the ‘Virtual Contract Farming (VCF)’ model, it gives the opportunity to the group to venture into the field of agriculture virtually without them having to go down to work on the farm.
“Using the VCF model, Grasicili gives them the opportunity to venture into the field of chilli cultivation where monitoring and planning is done by the company from the development process to the sale of produce,” he told Bernama.
He said VCF allows participants to monitor their crops using smartphones as each GrasiCili chilli farm is equipped with a monitoring system through closed circuit camera (CCTV) footage and drones.
“If there is space, participants are also welcome to work on their farms and will be given an allowance by GrasiCili,” he said.
Munir Ashim said VCF was a model that allowed those who were interested in investing in agriculture but had limited time to go down to the farm to be involved in developing the industry.
“The chilli market in Malaysia now depends on up to 70 per cent of imported chillies and the implementation of such a model will enable those with capital to be involved in contributing to the development of the country’s agricultural sector,” he said.
Munir Ashim said to date, the VCF model has a racted more than 50 participants with a starting capital of around RM20,000 for every 1,000 polybags of chillies, with a return on investment expected to be achieved within a year.
“This concept has a racted many young people because it opens up a ractive investment opportunities, namely a profit of between 25 and 40 per cent for each harvest with the price of chilli guaranteed throughout the contract period,” he said.
He said apart from VCF, the GrasiCili company now manages another large-scale chilli cultivation model, namely Comprehensive Contract Farming (CCF) in Sarawak, Sabah and several states in Peninsular Malaysia with a total farm area of more than 200 hectares.
He said the CCF model provided an opportunity for small farmers to merge into clusters by impacting their agricultural produce market through guidance from GrasiCili and Internet of Things (IoT) technology facilities.
“Several state governments and universities, including in Selangor, Johor, Melaka, Pahang and Terengganu, have also shown interest in the model introduced by GrasiCili because it is believed to be able to help farmers increase agricultural yields and reduce management costs,” he said.
Munir Ashim said GrasiCili aimed to manage more than 1,200 hectares by 2024 through both models by offering full employment opportunities to locals.