xeroxphan:

Also, quite contrary to what is being said, it is indeed quite difficult to get funding for agriculture enterprises. The reason being that banks view agriculture in Malaysia as a high-risk enterprise, and thus are unwilling to part money without some form of collateral, usually with the mortgage of the land itself.

Agrobank is supposed to be more open to funding agriculture projects, but from what I know, they've also maintained a similar attitude to other banks. I guess that's the reason why the entire board had been changed not too long ago. That saying, it might be worth trying now. If not, try microfinancing from government-linked banks, like BSN. Do note however that they will specify a "manufacturing" or "downstream processing" component to your enterprise, before they approve the loan, so think of possible plans of including a smallscale cottage industry. Eg. kerepek pisang tanduk, or homemade kimchi etc. Here is Sarawak, we see a lot of enterprising cottage industries, and many of their products get featured in mainline hypermarkets like Giant.

Hi Michael,
Had been learning & experimenting with grafting since last year, only recently made some progress. Had tried various grafting on mango, rubber, jackfruit & avocados. Your suggestion on collar grafting, I can't find any instruction in the internet. Maybe can point me to the right direction? Thank you.

Hi guys, it me the salted egg guy again, i wanna ask here familiar with vacuum packaging and high pressure cooker dissinfection?

I plan to sell my Salted Egg, cooked, to restaurants, havent seen people doing it here but china already quite some time.

What is the proper procedure for vacuum packing? Dissinfec first than packing, or pack first then dissinfect in pressure cooker?

Also should I increase my price to cover the cost of packaging or remain the same price as the raw unpacked one?

Another question is, if i were to sell the cooked egg to restaurants n kopitiam, is it advisable to do it like a consignment? Anyone experience in consignment? Is it like, i put 5 trays of eggs this week, no need pay first, the next week i service him, if he sold 3 trays, then I collect money for 3 trays and replenish the egg. Like that ah?

Thanks in advance aa

Mr Ah suknat.

It all depends on your operating cost whenever you want to try a system.

I'm doing other biz other than agri just to cover my other expenses. And i'm doing the exact system on your last part's comment. I only experience that you may sell cheap at big quantities with low quality and cost can be covered.

Other than that, opening small branches do help. I go for fixed price and they marked up price. Just sharing though & sorry for off topic. Lol

Ps: just do it

Consignment
Yes, as per your description, but do agree on the payment terms.
Say you put 5 trays, next service you go remainder 2 tray ( he sold 3), You top up 3 trays (total back to 5), he suppose to pay you 3 tray (now your payment terms comes in, CASH or later)?

Then you can monitor their sales, 5 tray too much (dead / expired stock, your baby), too little (good outlet, can increase more stock)?

Say just curious, how to sell salted egg @ kopitiam? Restaurant for their use, but consignment is it practical? No trying to pour cold water. I guess sundry shop or those shop selling dry stuff shall have better chance? Supermarket?

Thank you for meeting up Para. It's great exchanging ideas and information with you. Learned a lot today. Thank you. See you again.

Thanks for sharing

Operating cost definitely higher than unpacked, raw salted egg, but since my operating cost is lower than my competitors, I can still earn by maintaining my price, my competitors will not be able to copy my way because their operating cost is highet then mine, as I got cheap source for my feed.

Thanks for sharing ging

Kopitiam i mean like those selling economy rice(tho not really economy here, you know I know lah)
The reason i want to do consignment is because I dont want to stop my supplies to my customers, meaning I dont want other competitors have chance to jump my que when my customers run out of supplies, been there, like when i ask my regular if they want eggs, they say ahhhh bought already from other supplier.

Plus i can do consignment is because by doing high temperature dissinfection n vacuum packaging, my eggs last much longer, 180 days as the internet says, i dont know havent experiment yet, plus its cooked so its save them gas money and time, so i can supply large stock for my customers, so they wont run out of stocks before my next visit.

Stall selling porridge maybe can sell more.

Great to catch up with you. and grab hold of your ideas and experience in different markets and demands.

also thanks for lunch. next round my turn to pay ok/...

Oh, sure. It is also known as whip or tongue grafting.

Here's a Youtube link: Whip and Tongue Grafting


I've been checking up on the technique used here at Cocoa Board in Kuching, which I believe was adapted from Indonesia. In the past, grafting cocoa clones was very difficult, and had low success rates. The methods used previously were bud-patching and wedge grafting, which gave about 50%-70% success, depending on clones. Now they are using a modified version of the collar-grafting method, and have nearly 100% success rates across the board. The key, it seemed, were:

(1) Use scions of about the same age and size as the grafting point
(2) The "joint" must be firmly secured (hence the unique cut)
(3) Reduction of transpiration, i.e. moisture lost, from grafted joint
(4) Presence of at least 2 mature leaves on the rootstock just below the grafting joint (to promote upward movement of plant fluids, and encourage plant tissue coalescence)

At the Kuching facility, they are seriously pushing production of grafted clones now, as the intention of the minister is to increase Sarawak's cocoa hectarage dramatically by 2015. I was told they are aiming to produce something like 100,000 clones every few months.

Thank you Michael, for the link. And thank you for the tips. Now my skill had improved to about 30% and I'm already feeling great. Looking forward to try these out in the coming days. Should I improve to 90% I shall be feeling at the top of the world Thank you Michael.

I think the secret may be getting a stronger joint and increasing surface area (cambium contact). Which this Whip and tongue is doing. I also check out various youtube on this.

Yes, you are right. The problem with standard wedge-grafting is that the fit isn't always good, so contact of the grafted scion's phloem and xylem (nutrient and water carrying vessels) to the rootstock may be weak. Also, age factor of between the scion and the rootstock joint, i.e. whether it is "green" wood or "brown" wood, is also very important.



It is a little bit too technical for me to explain it in full, but the diagram in this Wiki-link should help:
Vascular Cambium

If one notices, as we move further down the growing point of the plant, the composition of cells and tissue are somewhat different, although they may have similar function. But it is such differences in cells that become a key factor in whether a graft is successful or not, aside from other aspects such as mobility of plant fluids upwards into the graft, relative humidity, transpiration etc.

Think about it this way: Grafting a plant, is like performing a heart transplant. Now, although the human heart is more or less similar for everyone, there are other factors such as blood type, antibodies, etc. that could lead to the patient receiving the donated heart to reject it. Plants, though less "choosy", are similar in that way. If the cells and tissue are not compatible enough, the host plant will reject it.

On a different note, and as a conversation piece related to Ah_Suknat:

How about waxing the salted duck eggs? I think the major concern about salted egg aficionados in Sabah and Sarawak is the messiness of the ash/gunk on the outside. But if it the eggs were dipped in wax, would that help improve the keeping quality?

Anyone tried this method before? I know that in the past, sailors used to take waxed fresh eggs on long voyages, so that they could have eggs while at sea. Also, if I'm not mistaken, a well-known fast food conglomerate wax their chicken eggs before shipping using lorries. Apparently this not only helps reduce/prevent breakage, but also ensures that the eggs can be transported long distances from their distribution centers.

Thank you Michael, it's a bit technical, so it'll take some time for me to digest. Thank you.

Hi People,

Just got back from the JB from the Export Course - Stage 1 that was organised by FAMA.

After talking to a few of the officers from FAMA about their plan next year, they are on the works on a AgroBazaar in Singapore at the end of the month.

They also announced that there will be 19 Trade fairs overseas promoting Malaysia Fresh Fruits & Downstream products.

=========================

I am interested to know how many are currently :-

a) Farmers (please state what fruit or vege)

b) Aquaculture (what are you fish farming)

Try out whip & tongue. It's not as complicated as it seems, but I guess higher risk of cutting my fingers. Maybe I'm still new to it and a tested on semi & hardwood. Hope to improve after more practices.

Hi Ah suknat, a silly idea just flashed my mind. Ever though of selling direct to end user online?

I dont think its gonna work, its perishable, fragile, n nothing special about Salted egg... yes i know there are people selling rock as pet...

Hi guys. I am interested in taking up aquaponic in my backyard. My cement pond measuring 48m2 and 1m depth will be ready in a month. Would appreciate it if someone can give me some pointers on where to source the fishes and food from as i live up north in Penang.