TECHNOLOGY FOR SMALL PINEAPPLE FARMERS

For pineapple farmer Mohd Fairuz Mohd As’ari aged 35 (Picture above), who has cultivated pineapples at his orchard in Jalan Muar-Air Hitam, Johore here for a decade, this year marked the first time he sold most of the crop he produced online rather than to wholesalers and suppliers as those practiced previously. Pineapples are truly inseparable from Hari Raya Aidilfitri, being a key ingredient to produce several types of pastries and cakes when the celebration comes along every year. With the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) which resulted in lower fruit sales, a few pineapple growers have taken the initiative to change their sales method in order to survive. For pineapple farmer Mohd Fairuz Mohd As’ari aged 35, who has cultivated pineapples at his orchard in Jalan Muar-Air Hitam here for a decade, this year marked the first time he sold most of the crop he produced online rather than to wholesalers and suppliers as previously. Blog "Anim Agricukture Technology" rewrite a Bernama report regarding on the strategy on pineapple technology.

At first, it felt awkward to conduct business via online, including usage of social media and mobile app to promote my product; but after nearly two months, it has become routine and much easier to do business. He was initially quite worried there would be pineapple dumping when the month of Syawal arrives this year, but my prediction turned out to be false as demand remains good although business is not conducted as in the past, ” he told Bernama in an interview yesterday. After doing online promotion, he was surprised to see a sudden rise in the number of buyers, especially those who preferred to buy directly from him on a small scale. He delivers the pineapples to these customers himself. Mohd Fairuz, whose pineapple orchard spans about 10 acres, said most of his fruits would be turned into jam by his customers as Hari Raya Aidilfitri approached, to produce several popular sweet foods such as pineapple tart, pineapple roll, layered cake (bahulu lapis) and pineapple roll cake (bahulu gulung). He said sales were only affected during the early stage of the MCO; the sales trend had returned to almost normal, with only exports still being hampered. “I grow three varieties of pineapples the MD2, Josapine and Morris variety whereby daily sales have reached 100 kg. This is slightly less than before the MCO but the volume should rise further next week. Source: Bernama

Thanks.

By,

M Anim,

Putrajaya,

Malaysia.

August 2020.