KUALA LANGAT: Realising the potential of agriculture to generate a lucrative income, Muhammad Amirul Shamil Shahrin, 23, did not waste any more time and ventured into the field immediately after graduating in 2017.
The diploma holder in Planting Industry Management from Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Jasin campus in Melaka, was determined to cultivate chillies since early 2018 after completing his industrial training at the Area Farmer’s Organisation (PPK) of Kuala Langat.
“While completing the practical, I met many farmers who cultivate chilli with satisfying incomes, so I sought advice from a PPK Kuala Langat officer on which agency should I approach to venture into this chilli farming.
“Praise be to Allah, they provided me with many forms from government agencies that can help me to cultivate this crop, and now, I’ve been farming chillies for three seasons and am very satisfied with the earnings,” he told Bernama when met at the Ladang E-Satellite Farm, Teluk Menkuang here today.
Muhammad Amirul Shamil said each season (about three months), he could produce up to four tonnes of chilli and generate a profit of RM9,000 and RM10,000.
However, he added, venturing into chilli farming is not without challenges, especially in terms of pest attacks by insects and erratic weather that could destroy the crop.
“The pest attacks vary every season, white flies attack during hot weather, while the rainy season brings attacks from mites, these two will cause damage to the plants, if the tree is still small we will get rid of it, if the tree is already matured and bearing fruit we will cut the damaged part. So we must pay attention at the farm,” he said.
The fourth of six siblings said his family gave full support to his decision to venture into agriculture rather than be a wage earner.
“My mother gave full support, she even helps to harvest the chillies for sale,” he said.
According to him, fresh graduates should be more daring to venture into agriculture because the field can generate high income and not to put too much focus on getting a job as a public or private servant.
“The government has provided much assistance to farming graduates, in terms of providing an area to farm, training and capital assistance, but it is not fully utilised.
“For instance, I received training at the Kuala Langat PPK, even was given the initial capital assistance and a five-acre plot of land for me and eight others to plant chillies with the help of an experienced mentor,” he said. – Bernama
