MELAKA: After facing difficulties in selling vegetables and losing thousands of ringgit each day following the movement control order from March last year, Abd Halim Abdullah decided to turn to Lohan guava (GU16) farming.

Abd 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 period.

He now concentrates fully on Lohan guava or jambu batu cultivation and today he has three farms over a 2.83-hectare 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 Melaka Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA).

"Alhamdulillah, the guava trees that I planted have reached maturity and are able to produce two tonnes of fruits to enable me to generate an income of RM10,000 a week," said Abdul Halim when met at his farm in Pulau Gadong here.

Apart from supplying them to FAMA Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Melaka, Abdul Halim has been supplying his farm produce to about 50 small traders and a wholesaler in the state

According to Abdul Halim as the eight-tonne monthly supply was at times not sufficient for markets outside Melaka, he is currently working on a GU16 pilot project with six friends for the cultivation of 2,000 trees on a 3.24-hectare site in Jalan Setulang Daeng, Bukit Rambai.

"The group project took off in early October and the trees are being planted in stages to be fully completed by December, and this would be followed by another project on a 6.47-hectare site in Bukit Katil early next year.

"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 farm family and now has four full-time employees including a person with disabilities (PwD) to assist him in the three farms.

Abd 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.

So far he has received encouraging response on the quality of the Lohan guava from buyers who have now become his regular customers as they found the fruits sweet, crunchy and juicy.

In terms of pricing, Abdul Halim said the guavas are sold directly from the farms at RM5 per kilogramme for A grade fruits, B grade at RM4 and C grade at RM3.

On FAMA's proposal to brand his Lohan guava products and introducing them as Melaka's iconic fruit, Abdul Halim said he felt honoured and appreciated the move.

-- BERNAMA