BEAUFORT: The Fertigation Kitchen Garden Project by the Persatuan Suri dan Anggota Wanita Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia (Perisma) Beaufort chapter has yielded its first harvest of 1.6 tonnes of lada bara chilli, just two months after the seedlings were handed over to the association.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry (Maffi) Datuk Ruslan Muharam said the harvest was a positive start to efforts to expand community farming activities, particularly through fertigation.
“Today we can see for ourselves the first yield from this project, with a harvest of 1.6 tonnes or 1,622 kilogrammes of lada bara, and this is a good start,” he said.
“I hope projects like this can continue to be carried out, strengthened and expanded by Perisma Beaufort, while generating income for its members,” he said when officiating the first harvest at the Beaufort District Fire and Rescue Station here, recently.
Ruslan, who is also Lumadan Assemblyman, said the project was implemented under the Kitchen Garden Project, which aims to encourage communities to utilise suitable areas for food crop production and turn farming into a productive activity.
He said fertigation allowed crops to be cultivated in a more organised manner without necessarily requiring large areas of land.
“Through the fertigation approach, we want the community to see that farming can be carried out in a more organised manner and does not necessarily require a large area.
“What is important is good management, participants’ commitment and continuity of the project so that the yields obtained can be improved over time,” he said.
He said the selection of lada bara also provided participants with practical exposure to crop management, including seedling care, fertilisation, irrigation and harvesting.
Ruslan said the achievement should encourage Perisma Beaufort to expand the project and explore other crops suitable for cultivation under the Kitchen Garden Project concept.
He said the involvement of organisations such as Perisma in community farming was in line with the Government’s efforts to broaden public participation in the agro-food sector and encourage productive use of land.
He hoped the first harvest would mark the beginning of a larger effort to expand the project while benefiting association members and the local community.
During the visit, Ruslan also inspected an area identified as a potential activity space for Perisma Beaufort to assess its suitability for use by the association.