Article: Farm-fresh family fun

Wednesday August 19, 2009

By DERRICK VINESH

FARMERS in Penang should tap the vast potential in agro-tourism and agro- recreation to broaden their scope of business, state Agriculture, Agro-based Industries, Rural Development and Flood Miti-gation Committee chairman Law Choo Kiang said.

Instead of merely focusing on their core businesses, he said, they should add value to their products and services by turning their farms into tourist draws.

"Farmers should set up restaurants as well as recreational facilities on their farms to encourage people to organise family outings there," he said when visiting a dragon fruit farm in Jalan Juru, Bukit Mertajam, recently.

Koay (left) showing Law (third left) the antique train coaches he plans to turn into souvenir shops at his farm in Juru.

Law said that dragon fruits had to be imported from Vietnam and Thailand to meet the high demand in the country.

He said there were only 20 farmers in Penang cultivating the fruits on 40ha of land.

"Many farmers are reluctant to venture into dragon fruit farming as they fear it may require extra care against plant diseases and pests as well as large plots of land," he said.

Juru Organic Farming Sdn Bhd director Koay Kok Beng, who started his dragon fruit farm on a 4ha plot of land in 2002, said he planned to promote his farm as a mini agro-recreational centre.

He said that apart from creating a landscaped garden at the farm with gazebos, he had also installed the necessary facilities to open a paintball park nearby.

"I have also bought two 1913 England-made antique train coaches for RM20,000 which was auctioned off by a hotel. I have installed them on my farm.

Koay harvesting the dragon fruits at his farm in Juru, Bukit Mertajam.

"I hope to refurbish and turn them into souvenir shops selling dragon fruits and related by- products to visitors and tourists," he said.

Koay, 45, said he hoped to open a cafe selling dragon fruit-based cakes, desserts, jam, drinks and enzymes at his farm in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup next year.

The cafe will also have a large multimedia projector system.

"I invested about RM240,000 on the farm which can generate yields up to 1.5 metric tonnes for every 0.4ha," he said.

Currently, some 7,800 dragon fruit trees have been planted on 1.8ha of land.

Koay sells his dragon fruits at an average price of RM4 per kg to markets as well as hypermarkets.

He can be reached at 019-4119399.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: North 19 August 2009