MAHA 2012 is planned for November this year. However the final dates has not be set just yet, as apparently it clashes with many other planned events, including BioMalaysia 2012, Innovation 2012, and a few others.

no wonder there was NO Official things being put out for MAHA

i saw many posters about MINI MAHA 2012 Negeri Sembilan. 25th June - 1 July 2012

Para:

It's not just Negeri Sembilan, but everywhere. It seems as though the plan this year is to have Mini MAHA events in every state, leading up to the main event. Then at least, if the main event does not take place, they can switch the flip and say the Mini MAHAs are the main event. Get what I mean? Sorry, I'm under the weather and quite disoriented. So I might start talking in loops.

Hi dudes...

I've been stalking this thread for quite sometime and made up my mind to really make agri a part of my life

Shroom cultivation was always the one thing i wanted to do... So as a start i tried cultivating abalone mycelium in a glass bottle.. My first attempt is a total disaster... Well... How can we ever succeed if we dont make mistakes...

Giving that i have totally zero exposure to agri, i was thinkin.. It is avisable for me to start off with cash crops such as chilli and shrooms to give me the experience and cashflow? As i wanted to commit fulltime to it as this is wat i really desire for!

Welcome to the CLUB bro....

there is a mushroom supplier in semenyih

Yeap... As far as i observe, shroom wasnt really a popular popular food in mly.. Mainly for export only.. So i was wondering do i need to back it up by growing crops like chilli or etc etc to get the cash coming in first for current sustainability?

What would you guys do/plant as your first venture to agri?

Hi People,

Am looking for quality Papaya Seeds, such as Eksotica 1, 2 or 3. Any ideas where to get these from?

Musang King (Mau San Wong).
Thinking of germinating these from the seeds, but the seed of these clone looks pretty small, wondering if these can germinate. Got about 30 of these, after finishing our durian feast.

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Added on June 19, 2012, 8:08 pmBanana, corns, Long beans, Okra, pumpkins, tapioca, sweet potatoes, papaya, green veges (Kangkong, Bayam etc). These are pretty quick, easy and marketable.

Bitter gourd, brinjals & Chilli, no success so far.

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Jun 19 2012, 08:08 PM

kabyss87:

Mushrooms have a very good market in Malaysia, actually. It's just that due to the highly perishable nature of the crop, you will need to have a very targeted market. Supermarkets have no issues with returning damanged or spoilt unmarketed goods back to you. And yes, they will try to claim "compensation".

I will suggest that you try it out on a hobby scale first. Don't take the plunge, as being hasty can be just as bad as being too slow.

As Mr Farmer has mentioned, those crops are good as a start. Okra in particular is a good and rewarding plant, so is sweet potato. For me, I prefer sweet potato, as you get two different crop (its leaves and stems can be sold as a vegetable, while the root can be harvested later for sale also).

Mr Farmer:

MARDI should have those papaya seeds you're looking for. You can ask from your local DOA extension office about this.

As for the Musang King durian, as far I know, it is a clone (D197). Meaning the fruit and seed may look typical of Musang King, but the genetics of the seedlings that sprout from such seeds may be completely different. You would be better off doing bark grafting than growing from seeds.

I would suggest you look for D2 seedlings, and graft D197 onto the plant. D2 are known for its disease tolerance, especially root rot and canker. The only thing is D2 does not yield well (could be genetics). Otherwise, you could try D10 or D109 also. Both these clones have good yielding (bears a lot of fruit) track records, but poor quality fruits (taste not so good).

But that saying, there is no harm with germinating those seeds. You never know if any one of them might turn out to be something different, but even more impressive. That's how many popular fruit trees came into being anyway, like the Hass avocado. It was a rejected sapling, originally. One guy bought it and planted it anyway, and it turned out to be a fantastic tasting fruit.

I thought seed from D197 Musang king is not able to germinate. It is because the seed is too small, personally, i have never see D197 seed germinate before. That is why all the musang king tree are bark grafting. Correct me if I am wrong, I wanna try it if I can.

Just to add on a little:

Durians are typically self-incompatible plants. Meaning they need to cross pollinate in order to bear fruit. Now durians are mostly pollinated by bats at night (between 5pm to 6am), although pollen release occurs around 7pm, and by 11pm almost all parts of the flower has fallen off, except the pistil (female part).

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Added on June 20, 2012, 5:34 pmKg Teratai:

Actually, it can germinate. But the germination rate is very very low, and the seedlings are normally quite weak. Bark grafting is done to produce enough planting materials, which are also more vigorous and have better chances of surviving.

This post has been edited by Michael J.: Jun 20 2012, 05:34 PM

For the Eksotica, what i did was to buy it from a RELIABLE pasar malam seller and take the seeds from there and germinate. haha...

am trying to try to germinate the d197 later when i get their seeds

anyone have an idea on how to germinate Durian Seeds ??
i dont have any idea sorry....

Para:

Durian seed need to sow soon after taking it out from the fruit, i.e. within a few hours. If you can't sow it so soon, then wash it clean, keep it in a container with some water, and keep it in a dark damp place. I keep durian seeds I want to germinate in my bathroom. You may keep it is the fridge, provided it is not too cold.

To germinate, I prefer starting them in a shallow dish of water in a dark place (i.e. my bathroom). Once the roots peep out about 2-3 cm, then I will sow them in bags of damp soil. These I will keep in a shaded area in my garden, and make sure to dampen the bags every other day if it isn't too hot. When initially growing, they can drink a lot of water.

Bro, the Eksotika, like all hybrid materials, will not grow true-to-type lar.... Meaning, the plant are a mixture of different varieties, so the genetics is mixed up. If you take the seeds from this mixed-up variety and plant, then you will get mixed up seedlings as well. Some may turn out better, but most will be perform worse.

It is a different story if you don't mind chapalang kind of plants. Actually, it is a good thing if you look at it differently; at least from whatever that grows, you can choose which one you like the most, pollinate those, and save those seeds. Then the few next cycles, you would probably get more uniform type of plant lor. Just make sure the seeds you save from hybrids are not Plant Variety Protected (PVP) seeds; otherwise, if the seed company finds out, they can sue you kow kow (eg. like what Monsanto has been doing to INDIVIDUAL FARMERS).

Thanks Guys,

The main reason that am attempting planting with seeds is that I do not have the source for budstick at the moment. Also it's just an experiment. Maybe I'm better off just getting some grafted trees from the nearby nursery.

Say for fruit trees, can we use the grafted (but not fruiting yet) trees for source of budstick? I see some nursery is doing this for rubber trees. Not sure if this works for fruit trees.

Shall try the local Mardi office here for the Eksotica.

Have some Mau San Wong and assorted seeds with me and shall plant them in the next few days. Shall keep you guys informed if they do germinate. Yes, the seeds of the Mau San Wong looks very small, I think the germination shall be very poor. From my experience on the Avocado seeds, the bigger the seeds, the better the germination.



About 120 plants of Avocado. Should be ready soon for me to try grafting soon. Problem is that I do not have a good source of budstick. I am thinking of just getting the budstick from the 4 fruiting trees in our farm. Don't even know what variety it is (maybe West Indian?).
Say any tips on doing grafting? Had been watching lots of grafting from youtube

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Added on June 20, 2012, 9:12 pmYes, was storing the washed seeds in the fridge, with double bags. Outer one heat sealed. Don't want the smell coming out to foul the plane. May get kicked off the plane for this

Passed thru' without any incident. Reached my farm in the evening. Was thinking of just planting it in polybags. Now, I shall try out your method.

My present batch of papaya, I too took the seeds from the fruits that I tasted good (and from strong plant of our trial batch). Even though, it's Chapalang, was thinking that it suits the local climate & condition.

Here the market do not accept yellow/orange flesh papaya. I wonder why. I tasted some that is very sweet and aromatic.

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Jun 20 2012, 09:12 PM

Mr Farmer:

There is really no issue with planting "chapalang" kind of plants, if you're in it for the passion lar. Most of the time, it becomes an issue with commercial, factory farms (i.e. those large, monocrop farms).

Personally, I prefer variation. That way I would be able to select the most unusual plants to keep and breed for future collection. I once bred a chili plant that originated from hybrid parents which produced about 4kg of crop a season. It's offspring also produced similar quantities. Unfortunately, I misplaced the seeds, although I gave away quite a lot of seeds to other people. I don't think many people would have planted it though; the chili fruits that formed were wrinkly and "old" looking, definitely not like those smooth-straight looking hybrids you see in supermarkets.

But the crux of the matter is that if one has the passion for agriculture, and isn't in it solely for the profits, then seed saving and plant breeding will be fun. And the cool thing about having such passion is that it isn't limited to just plants, but also animals. Otherwise, how the hell did so many varieties come into being? Like Forrest Gump would say, and I paraphrase: "Plant breeding is like a box of chocolates.... You never what you're gonna get!"

Also, Mr Farmer has hit the nail on the head when he said "adapted to local environment". This is something very important. As Para would probably know with his lettuce experiment, just because it is labelled "heat tolerant" does not mean it will grow at any temperature range. Having locally adapted varieties freely on hand is what makes agriculture ventures successful. Yes, the yield of the local variety may not be as high as another variety, or even a hybrid, but it is the variety most well suited to tolerate and withstand the diseases and other stressors of the area.

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Added on June 21, 2012, 10:07 amMAHA Negeri Sembilan 2012

MAHA Negeri Sembilan, next week at Paroi.

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Added on June 21, 2012, 10:16 amCell Aquaculture

Thought you guys would like to know, Cell Aquaculture is building a 250 ton high-density RAS facility in Malaysia, which will be located in Pagoh (Johor). It is expected to be completed in 6 months.

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Added on June 21, 2012, 10:16 amCell Aquaculture

Thought you guys would like to know, Cell Aquaculture is building a 250 ton high-density RAS facility in Malaysia, which will be located in Pagoh (Johor). It is expected to be completed in 6 months.

This post has been edited by Michael J.: Jun 21 2012, 10:16 AM

Hi Bros,

anyone of you had purchased any worms recently ?
if yes please recommend some...thanks am thinking of "inviting them to my farm" tq

These dry spell is getting worse, it's been more than 2 weeks without rain here. River, creek and pond is drying up. Was checking on my plant-lets in my nursery. Just found that couple of plants had developed these problem.






It's causing the bark to peel off and wooden-ing of the stem. It's affecting all of the Breadfruit plants (6) and 2 had died off. It's also affect the lime (1 out of 5). Am sure it's not due to the hot spell. Fungus, Bacteria or virus? Soil or water borne? I don't think it's affecting the Avocados. Or over watering and caused stem rots like the papaya?

Mr Farmer:

Hmmm...... Sorry I can't see the pictures from here. But based on your description, it sounds to be due to sun scalding, followed by infection by phytophtora fungus. Tell me, do you water early in the evenings, about 4-5pm? Or earlier, shortly after mid-day?

Although literature on sun scalding will show it to be something more of a problem in temperate regions, the fact is sun scalding happens to plants wherever there are drastic shifts in temperature. In the tropics, what happens is that in the daytime, temperatures are excessively high, followed by sharp drops in temperature during evenings or night time. In Malaysia, the normal daytime temperature is anywhere between 28C to 33C or maybe 1-2 degrees higher; night temperatures in most cases are also still quite high, around 26C-28C in the lowlands, which is about 2-5 degrees shifts. This isn't a very drastic change, and plant cells can adapt quite well to this, usually through the uptake of water and other metabolites.

However, problem comes when temperatures soar till around 35C, and then plummet to 26C. The nearly 10C change in temperature will shock the plant, causing the cells to keep "drinking" water without restraint, leading to "bursting" barks and splitting along the trunk. The same condition can occur even under normal temperature ranges, whereby cool water is applied to plants on a hot day, leading to sharp shifts in soil and bark temperatures, thereby stimulating the plant to go into thermal regulation mode. That's why most growers and gardeners will tell you, "Don't water plants during the afternoon sun!". They don't normally explain why, but this is part of the reasoning.

Now once a wound is created, it will allow easy access to plant pathogens and other nasty stuff. Disease causing fungi like phytophtora are commonly present in tropical soil, especially those with very high amount of woody/organic matter. Not all species of phytophtora are habitual plant-killers, but when given the chance, they can kill.

It is hard to determine the severity of the infection at this stage (as I can't view the photos). But if the bark area has some black or dark appearance, the chances are the disease is already in an advance stage, and saving the plant would be difficult. If it isn't a rare or expensive plant, you might want to consider getting replacements.

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Added on June 26, 2012, 2:05 pmGood day all.

For all of you aspiring (and on-going) durian growers, a little information about the wonderful of durians.

http://durianinfo.blogspot.com/


This post has been edited by Michael J.: Jun 26 2012, 02:05 PM

MJ, yeas, you were right, was watering these plants during hot afternoon, as due to this hot drought weather, it's already killing most of my new plants.
Wondering how long shall this weather last. Rivers, creeks and our pond is drying up.

Mr Farmer:

I've finally managed to have a good long look at the photos you've posted here.

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Added on June 26, 2012, 6:53 pmBut I have to ask you a question: Do you have squirrel problems as well?

This post has been edited by Michael J.: Jun 26 2012, 06:53 PM

Hmmh, not that I know of in this farm. Only lots of chickens (neighbor's, 4 sides).