IMPORTED CHILLIES (Capsicum annum) from neighbouring countries are being favoured over homegrown chillies, leaving many farmers worried, reported local media included Sinar Harian. The daily said farmers were suffering losses as prices dipped due to the competition from chillies brought in from overseas. Muhammad Termizi Setopa, 34, said he had to travel from Jempol in Negri Sembilan to Kuala Langat in Selangor, regularly known as the Kuala Langat Farmers Organisation (PPK) bought chillies at a better price than in his hometown. He said that if he were to sell his chillies in Negri Sembilan, he could only sell these at between RM3 and RM3.50 a kilo. Another farmer, Ekmal Subhi, said that he had suffered as much as RM300,000 in losses in the past. The 37-year-old said that there should be labels that differentiated between local and imported chillies. “It is disappointing as local chillies are premium quality,” he said. Kuala Langat PPK chairman Abdul Razak Khasbullah said that he had seen as much as a 50% dip in demand for local chillies from supermarkets and grocery shops. Abdul Razak said that the lower prices of imported chillies were affecting local farmers’ ability to compete in the market.
On other, a company named GrasiCili that was owned by technopreneur turned agropreneur Munir Asim Abdullah, aims to grow a total of 65,000 premium chilli plants but needs the help of fellow Sarawakians to achieve the target. Munir said the target is aimed at having sustainable or constant supply of grade ‘A’ chillies for export starting next year. The nation’s overdependence on import of chillies - more than 45,000 metric tonnes per year valued at some RM145 million - suggests that export of premium chillies would be a big source of income to any farmer, he said, referring to a recent news article about the monetary potential in the chilli business. He said: “If all of my members or associates plant according to GrasiCili SOP (standard operating procedure or methodology) we can achieve the target and improve on export of Sarawak’s own premium chillies. Right now, Sarawak perhaps has 5,000 chilli plants but these include those of grade B.” The difference between grade A and B chilli fruits, he pointed out, is that grade A chilli plants are grown inside plastic poly bags containing ‘sabut’ (coir) while grade B chilli plants are grown directly on the soil. He said only Grade A chillies have high demand in the export market and for one to grow grade A chillies, one needs to ensure that the farm is clean and free of weeds and animals like cats, dogs and chickens. He suggested that one way to prevent weed is to use silver shine plastic sheets to cover the soil. “The farm must be very clean. And on top of that, GrasiCili farm uses fertigation method and not using soil. But one thing for sure, the chilli is cash crop for farmers particularly those in the rural areas and those with land. A small plot will be fine for a start,” Munir said when met after he conducted training for 25 members of Kelab Rekreasi Kampung Pla Samarahan at his farm in Rapak Penyau in Pantu Sri Aman on Saturday. At the moment, GrasiCili has 130 members but is growing in membership, he said, adding that ‘Grasi’ in Iban means ‘Giant’ and if the farmers follow his method there is no reason for them not to succeed. The GrasiCili farm started with a thousand plants and will be growing in size but its main intention is to assist rural farmers raise their income. Munir, 46, is an Iban from Rapak Penyau Pantu, Sri Aman. He received his primary school education at Chung Hua Pantu and Chung Hua Bintulu and secondary school education at Maktab Rendah Sains Mara in Perlis. He graduated from University of Hartford in 1996 with an electrical engineering degree and started business on the same month after his graduation.
Munir is also an expert in automation of business process, ICT system, security system and web-based application design and has been involved in developing ‘Usahawan Micro B40’ in West Malaysia since 2010 with government agencies Teraju and AIM. Last year, he decided to change his status from technoprenuer to agroprenuer. “Due to my interest in modern technology in farming, actively doing research the best, easy, fast and high market value type of chillies that could be exported to other countries. After visiting chilli farmers in Peninsular Malaysia and attending meetings and seminars by Agrobank, Ministry of Agriculture, I started to plan my comprehensive cluster farmers in my village (Rumah Peter Rapak Penyau in Pantu Sri Aman) with my own budget and resources,” he said. “The brand that we plan to push for export is GrasiCili and within three months, we managed to draw 128 farmers to register with GrasiCili. Grasicili not only gives training but also brings trainees for site visit, helping them set up business, advising them on marketing and opening a collection centre for members. We also buy chillies from our members and create the market, both local and export.” GrasiCili produces good quality or grade A six-inch long chillies for export. “With modern farming in place, the quality will be much better and there should be less usage of pesticide compared to traditional type of farming,” said Munir. During the launch of the Malaysia Book of Records in Kuala Langat, Selangor for the record harvest of chillies in one day, Munir was the only one from Sarawak attending it. “I was there to witness the event and I am proud to say that I was the only representative from Sarawak. I am now wishing that the next record would be set in Sarawak with the harvesting of chillies from 200,000 poly bags by end of 2018. That will translate into producing six metric tonnes of chillies per day,” he said. ThankYou.
By,
M Anem,
Snior Agronomist,
Jalan Padi Ria 11,
Bandar Baru UDA,
Johor Bahru,
Johor, Malaysia.
(3 Muharram 1440H).
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