More often than not, children are encouraged at an early age to aspire for careers in a traditionally professional field, whether it be law, medicine, engineering, or other similar industries, for the sake of a stable future. But with times changing and the occupational landscape evolving, we are now in an age where truly any interest or hobby could potentially turn into a fulfilling career.
M’sian farmer shares his success in cultivating vegetables & fruits
And where one young Malaysian man is concerned, he decided to set his sights on building a business for himself within the country’s agricultural industry, to much success. In speaking with local newswire agency BERNAMA, 28-year-old entrepreneur Chung Chia Khang shares his journey in striking out on his own and pursuing farming as a vocation after completing his Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM).
At the time, he explained that his interest was first piqued after his mother had enrolled him in a agricultural course organised by the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA). In the early stages of his foray into the industry, Chung said he only cultivated around 1,000 polybags of peppers in the compound of his Ayer Keroh home.
From that point onwards, he then made the decision to kick-start his own business on a small scale after receiving RM10,000 in financial assistance through RISDA’s Supplementary Economic Activity programme, which was introduced to entice Malaysians to develop agricultural areas. For seven years, he toiled tirelessly and remained unfazed in his ambitions.
A successful business in agriculture
Today, he runs his very own farm measuring around 12-hectares in the Lojing Highlands area of Gua Musang, Kelantan, where he cultivates around 100,000 polybags of different vegetables and fruits through fertigation, including cabbage, corn, tomatoes, celery, spring onion, coriander, radish, long beans and cantaloupes.
“Thanks to my persistence and devotion to the land, I got a decent return and was able to earn RM400,000 in a month, and set up a company called Lojifarmers last year,” he said.
In fact, some of his produce has even reached across the Causeway on Singaporean shores, too. At current capacity, his farm is capable of producing a yield of anywhere between 40 to 70 tonnes of vegetables monthly. In terms of cabbages alone, 40,000 plants that were cultivated on 1.2 hectares of land will be harvested, with an estimated one tonne of cabbage plants being collected daily.
“The market price of vegetables for this year is good when it increased by more than 50 per cent compared to a year or two ago,”
His vegetables will then be collected before being delivered to wholesalers in Kampung Raja, Cameron Highlands where they will be exported throughout the country, and even across the Causeway to Singaporean shores.
And while the agriculture industry may seem like a lucrative one, it is important to keep in mind that farmers such as Chung have braved many struggles to reach a point where their businesses can turn a healthy profit, whether it be in terms of unseasonable weather, crop disease and pests, or shortage in foreign labour.
In fact, many farmers continue to struggle on the day-to-day in Malaysia as operating costs skyrocket and farming resources run slim, especially in the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
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