http://switchup.tv/View.aspx?vid=8038&cid=20

[/quote]
Wow good life for that Mr Wong! Unfortunately over here the collection center don't pay cash. Payment once a month. Flat land some more, easy access road, makes me drool. Here, from no access road to ex-timber road. Need a 4x4 Farm tractor and 4x4 dumper to collect harvest. Still, lots of people are planting palm oil.
Was wondering, what's the minimum acreage to have a profitable Palm Oil Plantation (economy of scale that is).

Lol, good for Mr Wong. As he has more than 10 years' planting experience, he can term it as lazy man's crop. For newbie like me, am just starting to learn planting tapioca and sweet potatoes

Michael, for the above that is to generate an income of 3K. What if you cost in initial investment like land cost, developmental (land preparation & planting) and transportation (higher over East Malaysia as access road is not as good), then what sort of acreage should we be looking at?

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Mar 2 2012, 10:23 PM

Welcome to the club ytkwong.

Just thinking out loud, assuming that the land is agriculture land, maybe can convert it to commercial/industrial or residential?
In the mean time, either set up a simple agriculture program with the least capital investment of a JV with a partner to manage the farm/plantation.

My personal opinion is that a land costing 80~100k per acre, does not justify to do agriculture as the ROI is not sufficient to cover it (?). I guess looking into capital gain (Land) is more feasible.

Let's share some ideas?

Maybe marketability?

Did some comparison on the market some time ago last year (Sabah). Chicken vs Duck. I think Chicken wins in terms of market share. I'm sure (here) the market for Chicken is much bigger. Turkey, it didn't cross my mind at that moment.

chinyen, want to share your information on Turkey?

Just visited Desa Cattle Farm.

Hi MJ, going back to my farm (back to the hills) this afternoon, sent off my guests last night.

I am only familiar on the western side of Sabah (inclusive of Ranau). I "heard" there are development in most major area towards agriculture in Sabah. The figures quoted above is acres/hectors? I remember reading from Lembaga Getah (Sabah) that their developmental cost is about $14,800 / hect. Land clearing, access road (within the land), and planting for rubber trees.
I guess we could do it at a much lower cost on a small holder basis (where the owner/partner is involve to minimize cost).

Sooner or later, the union thing / minimum wages shall take effect in Sabah too. At least I think it's easier to source for foreign labor here than in Penisular. Just applied for 5 person on my own, am still waiting for the final approval on 15th March. Applying the permit on our own saves a lot of $. Levi for plantation workers is only $510 per head.

Transport cost is definitely higher here, but over the western coast, the mills are quite close and lots of collection centers. The Only problem is they collect on credit, payment once a month. Most of the lands that I had seen, already have ex-timber trials, hence not too bad. Just need to maintain it. Just need to worry about the roads within your land.
I had been estimating that a minimum acreage of 70 acres (in 1 location) to be feasible commercially.
Shall try to find out more on Rubber Vs Palm Oil, maybe there is an opportunity in knocking.

Thanks for the links MJ.
14.8K is the total (average) cost.
Base on the data that I've collected, my estimate for Palm Oil & Rubber should be about the same (depending on market fluctuation).
Was thinking that due to local condition, high transportation cost, Rubber may have an edge over Palm oil due to lower weight & easier logistic. Also Rubber get paid cash here, but Palm Oil is on credit, monthly account.
Saplings are cheaper for Rubber, range from $3.50 to $5.50
End of the day, I guess it's the experience that counts, whether the planter is more comfortable with Rubber or Palm Oil.

Thanks MJ, for the link. Didn't know that there a nursery there @ Bongawan. Am looking at the RRIM3001 which they claim they have.
Am also thinking of starting a small nursery, but don't have any grafting experience. Wonder if it's difficult. Had "thrown" about 40 rubber seeds on to ground last week. Waiting for it to germinate, then transfer to poly bag. Shall use these to try our hands on budding.

If it works, then shall get some certified clones and use it to harvest bud stick. Start a nursery, then plant some rubber trees.

I'm getting seeds from unknown source (simply picked). I always though the the characteristic of the clone is base on the tree where we harvest the bud. How important a role is the seed? I see even LGM and independent nursery is doing the same (seeds from unknown source). Any advantages or disadvantages on using seeds from grafted trees of old seed planted trees?

Maintenance again I though it's suppose to be simple, watering daily and apply fertilizer. Can elaborate the maintaining part? Getting worried now.

Sorry, your experiment on hybrid breeding of guppy is too complicated for a newbie like me Shall check back with you when I reached a higher level.

Speaking of Hybrid. Planted some F1 hybrid Ash gourd. Grew very vigorously with good harvest. Left 3 big gourd and waited for these to ripe and tried to use it for the next season. Planted these seeds a week ago, none germinated. Any reasons? Is it possible for the supplier to make the hybrid seeds infertile? Shall try again with the last fruit.

---

Added on March 13, 2012, 7:54 pmHad an experience with sweet corn (hybrid 45 days), the process is very slow that even when I try to correct the deficiency, it did not work during the life span of the crops.

Say I notice that some Palm Oil planters here are converting to spraying liquid fertilizer, both on the trees and ground. Am looking at the advantage & disadvantage.

---

Added on March 13, 2012, 7:58 pm Say, any method of minimizing flower drops? Wishing to have a durian plantation......

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Mar 13 2012, 07:58 PM

Spoke with a friend doing "Red Prawn". He limits it to 25~30 fruits per tree. He says he get big fruits.
Me, experimenting with Banana, limiting it to 7~8 combs. Good fruit size. Just had a Berangan, but we were late in wrapping it. Black dots had appeared.

Would sure like to lay my hands on these !

---

Added on March 15, 2012, 6:26 pmFriend farm is in Sabah, about 100 Km from mine. Was told that they initially ship the Red Prawn from Peninsular, bit by bit via courier (long story). Anyway, his farm is along the trunk road linking Sabah with Brunei & Sarawak. He get very good price selling his produce himself (retail) along the road side. The taste is beyond words.

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Mar 15 2012, 06:26 PM

Congratulation.
Please share course material / experience after attending. Am sure we can benefit too.

Just came back from the clinic again, on 2nd day MC. Doc says too much stress. Stay away from your farm he says.

Taking a short break next week.

Hi Guys, found this interesting Fertigation for Oil Palm while doing some search on irrigation / fertigation. Just to share with you.

http://www.autopot.com.au/content/document...%20-%20pfda.pdf

I am thinking of a low cost (running/set up) irrigation (that can be upgraded to fertigation) for use in my farm (no electricity).
My project, I'm thinking of building a rig to raise up a water tank (say 8 ~ 10 feet from ground level), to create a gravity drop to run the fertigation / irrigation line. But then again, I still need energy / power to raise the water to the tank.

Alternatively, I can use a small solar panel to run a small (fish tank) pump to pressurize the fertigation line. I saw this set up at Sin Seng Huat running about 500 macro drippers by just using a small fish tank pump). The solar panel could be costly and the might be a risk of being stolen from the farm.

Any suggestion? Would like to do a trial on small scale.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.
I had did some research on the screw pumps before. The screw pump is good for large displacement of water, the problem is the it does not provide good "pump head" (raising the water to a height, creating pressure). Hence good for irrigating flat / undulating land.

I already have a pump in my farm, small 5 hp petrol driven pump. I find it quite expensive to run it for a long period. Had also experimented with sprinkle system, but these need to run on a long period and need labor intervention. Short of hands at the moment. When we were planting greens vegetables, we run the pump 1 1/2 hours in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the evening daily (except when it rained). Had stopped planting green vegetables at the moment.

Am moving on to fruit trees. Hence am thinking about dripping system and how to make it low cost, mobile, less labor intensive. Am testing this system to help in transplanting of saplings. The first 2 weeks after transplanting is critical for many plants. My first experiment is on 6 papaya saplings. 3 was just transplant without any aid. 3 was transplanted with a shade of banana leaves. The banana leaves dried off after 3 days and were affecting the saplings. I took 3 soft drink bottles, punch a very small hole at the bottom and created a very simple drip system. I fill up the bottle every alternative day for a week. Now the papaya plant is growing on its own.

The 3 sapling without aids, dried off after the fifth day.

Am going back to my farm tomorrow and armed with about 200 seeds of Mas Solo papaya. Has to have this is place before transplanting. My search on the net, we can actually hang a drip bag ( a big version that they use in the hospital) to create a drip. Have a rough sketch in my mind, maybe use those 5 kg cooking oil bottle or whatever big bottle to create a drip. from my earlier experiment and search on the net, am quite sure this shall work. Now my problem is that to fill up say 150 bottles on alternative days is quite labor intensive.

And to create a permanent dripping system, is quite expensive (interior), no experience and am not ready (me). Alternatively I could assign a hand to water these saplings daily by running the pump.

If I could successfully develop this, I can use it during the first 2 weeks of transplanting and adapt it to feed liquid fertilizer. What do you guys think?

Hi Elmer,
Looking at your questions, I am wondering if you have any hands-on experience in running a fish farm (or such a big scale). Not trying to "pour cold water", but do consider an exit plan just in case things don't goes according to your plan. It's very easy to "buy into" a venture, but very difficult to exit, especially if it is not doing well.

Am sure you would have work out your budgeting and funding for your project, since you mentioned 60K/ mth = 720K/year. Your rolling capital, mean time to harvest, etc.

Also it might be interesting to verify the reasons for the sale of the farm.
Standard reasons are most probably getting old, retiring, sickness, no children wants to take over, migrating...blah, blah....

Personally, I do not have any experience in agriculture/aquaculture.
Was in Ipoh a few months back, there is this guy that deliver Red Tilapia to Ipoh. Story is that their boss got a permit to rear these fishes at a dam in upper Perak and under their "agreement" certain % is for export and certain % needs to to sold off locally. He is doing the local sales, frozen Tilapia both wholesale & retail.
Good luck. Would sure like to visit your new farm.

---

Added on March 28, 2012, 9:54 pmThanks for your suggestion MJ, unfortunately there is only a small creek at my farm, where I had widen it to a pool at a certain section. There is practically no water current and water level is below the land about 10 to 15 feet (depending on the season).
Wind turbine/ Solar panel is not an option as it's quite costly, need continuous wind current, theft & etc.

I think I may be able to grasp your idea. But then rain collection troughs interfere/compete with sunlight. Hope to have this system working especially during drought season. And mobility.

So far, I am thinking of using a standard 25 liter tank (from discarded herbicide) attach a 4 mm tube to a micro drip. As I had not find out about the flow rate /pressure of the micro drips, rough guess a 25 liter could last for 4 ~ 6 days before refilling. Could use a wheelbarrow or a truck to drive to the pool, refill , then distribute the tanks. Or run the pump, use hose to fill up all tanks. What do you think?

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Mar 28 2012, 09:54 PM

[quote=Michael J.,Mar 29 2012, 09:01 AM]MrFarmer:

Whoa! That is really low water level. I thought I recalled that flooding used to be an issue. Maybe I've confused you with someone else.

As I said, your idea is good, just laborious. Why not just test it and see? Never try, never know, and it will always just remain an idea on paper. But please do clean the herbicide barrels thoroughly, including soaking with soapy water for a few days. Herbicide residue can still be dangerous for crops.

[/quote]
Thanks for the reminder on the cleaning of the herbicide barrel.
My farm do not have flood problem, 1) just a small patch of land where the water can not drain off. Had solved this by digging a drainage trough. 2) Side of the creek floods during the rainy season, and subside when no rain. Had not sort this as there are still lots of overgrown and short of labor at the moment.
Yes, am definitely testing this out.

---

Added on March 29, 2012, 9:43 pm

---

Added on March 29, 2012, 5:33 pmHi Mr. Farmer,

My partner and I definitely do not have hands-on experience in running a fish farm. I'm from the IT background and he is from manufacturing. We both have keen interest in aquaculture but our experience goes as far as rearing ornamental fish. I do not know how else to get hands-on experience in a fish farm unless I go and work in one which I doubt will happen. We plan to attend a few trainings and basically get our hands dirty immediately.

I have closed friends who have experience in aquaculture so they would be able to help out. Moreover, the farm is already being operated by 3 Indons and they basically do everything from changing water to harvesting the fish. The owner of the farm has also agreed to guide us for a couple of weeks to get ourselves familiar in managing the fund.

We have done cashflow projections for 3 years so basically we will know how long our capital can last.

We definitely won't know the real reason the owner is selling the farm but he claims he is retiring.... so can't really say much about that.

[/quote]
Hi Elmer, sorry, I'm just playing the antagonistic role, but I really meant well and wish you to have success on your first try.

Any possibility of roping in the most experience friend as a junior partner? This may greatly reduce your risk on the production side.

As for the 3 Indons, do check when is their permit expiring and how long have they been in Malaysia. Their work permit can only be renewed up to 3 years, after that, they shall need to leave the country. Please be prepared as most probably 3 of them falls on the same date.

I went into agriculture on a way, and hope others shall be more prepared. I got my hand dirtied gradually for the past 20 months, but the last 7 months was very intensive as my partner left. Just hurt my back 2 weeks back, now was referred to an Orthopedic and today got a cut while sharpening my parang Not that I'm regretting it, but I feel that you shall fare much better if you are more prepared.

---

Added on March 29, 2012, 9:48 pm[quote=jwai85,Mar 29 2012, 03:25 PM]
Hi guys... i was randomly reading about hydroponics, then aeroponics, then it brought me to fertigation, that led me to Cili Fertigasi and then it led me here after a stop by the autopot site...lolz...

was planning on starting small with a mini fertigation "farm" behind my house to just try it out before things get serious. any opinion on this business you can share?

[/quote]
Hi Jwai85, welcome.
You may want to visit Sin Seng Huat Seeds, http://www.greeneagle.com.my/main.htm
They sell seeds and supplies for fertigation. They have set up their fertigation at their office and looks quite easy enough. They can even show you how to do it. Was there last week, didn't bring my camera.

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Mar 29 2012, 09:48 PM

Bought some Bentong Ginger last year, took these to my farm (Sabah) and planted these. Harvested and used as seedlings. Managed to plant about 6 raised beds.

Question: Can I still claim these as Bentong Ginger when I market these? As I understand Bentong Ginger is a variety.

Looking for Vitato Sweet Potato cutting/tuber. Want to test out planting these. Anyone can help?

http://www.mardi.my/c/document_library/get...2&groupId=10138

Something interesting to share
Enhancing Food Processing by Normah Binti Omar, Food Technology Research Center, MARDI
http://www.fama.gov.my/html/themes/fama/do...NORMAH_OMAR.pdf

Berangan? Tissue cultured? How long since you planted it?
Wish I'm close to your farm, and can collect the suckers from you
Noticed that there is a poly pipe running across. These banana on dripping irrigation?

Received your PM, shall check it out.



Have this Banana on my farm, not sure what type it is, the petals of the flower is very huge, don't think it's Berangan as normally it's not that big. Could it be Cavendish? or we have a gigantic Banana here.

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Apr 22 2012, 06:58 PM

Hi Jason, I operate a small farm in Sabah. Sorry, am not familiar with that area at the present.

Acquiring land, (my personal opinion) is an art (like courting ). Would suggest you do a preliminary visit first. Check out the land and surrounding area. Talk with the locals. Get as much information as possible. Spend some time there.

If you have a "feel" then only go for an in-depth assessment.

Jason, you a Sabahan? In Sabah? Maybe we can meet up 1 day to Yam Chai (drinks). I have very keen interest in Rubbers Trees too.