Great Publication..!!! I am also very interested in farming but now still dun have the knowledge and the money to start.. maybe after few years i can join u guys for more chatting... =))

Bro,

thank you

Both Knowledge & $$$ you need to acquire before jump into this. 1 wrong move can wipe you out that's the pitfall

MJ , u are right!! The owner said the sea water once flood the land long time ago
NALFIN is ?

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Added on November 8, 2011, 11:01 pmMJ , u are right!! The owner said the sea water once flood the land long time ago
NALFIN is ?

This post has been edited by kianwei8: Nov 8 2011, 11:01 PM

Oh yes, pruning is essential, we even cut off some fruits. It depends on whether you are targeting for big fruits or just quantity (Market requirement).

Para, won't be back until CNY. Have to look after farm now as my operation partner suddenly pull off (1st Oct) citing retirement. He actually went to JV with new partners planting Castor, as I wanted to wait & see before proceeding. Anyway, wish him best of luck. It's also a great opportunity to start taking care of the farm. May have to look for new partner / s, who can spend passionate time to improve the farm.
Sure, shall call you Yam Cha when back.

By the way, just tested an automatic sprinkler today. The sprinkler does not come with any specification, just green colored nozzle. Have to work out how many sprinkler can our pump (gasoline 4.5 hp) run.

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Added on November 9, 2011, 8:19 pmMy opinion is to start farming is simple. Do it on a small scale. Can start planting at your own back garden for your own consumption. You can also play farming with any farm close to you. Talk with the operator, go and help out during your free time (can also find out if you really like farming before jumping in).

When you are more comfortable, then do it in a small scale 1, 2 or any small acreage.
Knowledge can be learned. There are lots of avenue.
As with any business, budgeting is very important, do have some (more) for reserve.

Agriculture is big business. Just spoke with a second generation farmer (can not call him a farmer anymore). Their family owns a 50 acres farm, out sourcing it to privateer farmers in small plots. They just collect the harvest and do wholesale. Their fleets consist of 1 X 5 tons & 5 X 1.5 tons lorry. The two sons running the operation on shift, the dad stay at kopitiam 'blow water' (blowing his horns) only.

A strong & passionate desire, full commitment, positive optimism & motivation with great patience do really helps

Best of luck to you.

This post has been edited by MrFarmer: Nov 9 2011, 08:19 PM

NALFIN = National Land Finance Co-operative Society Limited

They are a company associated with MIC, and are involved with many businesses. One of them is oil palm cultivation and seed production. The breeder there, Rajendran, is a good friend of mine.

The thing about land reclaimed from the sea is that the surface may appear fine and dandy, but the groundwater is actually still saline. And it can stay saline for a very long time (i.e. millions of years). Eg like Australia, which was partly under the sea millions of year ago, and their aquifers are considerable saline, more so now. Such soil needs extra attention when managing it.

I would suggest that you also get involved with the agronomist and breeders group at LinkedIn. We're quite a chatty bunch, and some of the ideas these guys throw out are pretty interesting. Also, you get exposure to professionals outside of Malaysia, and gain their insights about world agriculture.

Hi Para,
This is our play sprinkler. Bought it for $6.00 Guess it should work. Tested for a couple of days. At one time, the sprinkler stopped spinning, guess it might be something to do with the pressure. Am looking to install more later.
We are putting chicken dungs, fertilizer, fishes & EM (effective microbes) into the pool. Since we are pumping our water there, we figure this might help the plants to grow better.

If there are too many sprinkler heads and its quite high from the ground, could be mainly due to pressure. 1 way to solve it are to have stop valves. so as to maintain the pressure.

Mr Farmer:

Sorry, can't see the picture, so I'm assuming it is a single pond.

For single ponds, I would not think placing manure and fertilizers as a good idea per se, as it would encourage algae growth, which will then clog the sprinkler system. Fish you may add, but keep bigger fish. When I was managing oil palm nurseries, we used to have a problem a problem with guppies (ikan longkang) clogging up the sprinklers. If you do want to do add stuff before watering, I would suggest you build a sump, which will act as a temporary collection point for water. You could use gravity to do the job. But this helps to ensure the water you apply is relatively free of clogging materials.

Para has made some very important points. Install stop valves, and manage the watering regime. I believe you already know how much HP your pump is and so what kind of water pressure to expect.

This might be a strange question, but what droplet size are your sprinklers? And what's the rate of release per hour?

This post has been edited by Michael J.: Nov 18 2011, 08:20 AM

hahaha.. luckily i knew a friend where his family is running a quite large plantation from vegetables to rubber estates.. plan to go learn from his father abit about agriculture first then only decide whether i have the will and interest to run this field.. hehe.. will keep watching this thread as well.. hehe..

Our pond is actually a small creek. As the water was too little during the dry season, we had dug into the creek and converted it to a pond. We had it done in stages, on the upper level a long pond and lower level is a small pond. We kind of lie built a small dam across it. The main long pond is also used as a reservoir as we pipe in some water via gravity feed. As it is rain season here, no problem now, but we were desperate for water last month. There are no clogging problem at the moment but shall see how to incorporate a sump of a screen intake filter.

As the pump is an old unit, we do not have much information about it.

Just that 143 cc, 3.5hp engine. The consumption is quite heavy, may have to look for an alternative lower consumption engine, perhaps a diesel type. As the sprinkler also does not come with any specification, everything is based on guess work & trial. We already had stop valve install as we were using manual labor with garden hose (16mm flexible garden hose) attached to the main PP pipe.

The green color coded sprinkler is listed as type 323, did not find any specs on the net. The nozzle side has a smaller water droplet size while the turning activator side has a bigger droplet size. These sprinkler is prone to pressure and water flow problem, both high and low. It has a window of workable pressure and water flow and it does not work above or below this window. The throw is about 20 ~ 25 ft diameter. We manage to fit 4 at the moment.

We had installed a Butterfly type sprinkler. From the design, the operation window (pressure & flow rate) is much wider. The water droplet size is much fine, bigger than mist. The throw is much smaller, about 12 ~ 12 ft diameter. Shall be trying to install more points.

Saw a young, immature rubber tree drying off from the top.


The leaves as well as the stem are drying up and dying.
The lower trunk seems to be good.

What could be wrong? Just one of this all of the whole lot. Tree was still fine a month ago.
Cutting off the dried section, till the trunk is fresh with latex. Hope it shall grow again.

Mr farmer, you can experiment with the choice of fertilizers. Agarwood trees are fast growing trees.

How about organic fertilizer

Kenso, Cap Bunga, organic fertilizer, Super Green
http://www.kensocorp.com/index.php?cat_id=11&im=products
Super Green
13-7-8-2+TE+HA
Super Green incorporates both the benefits of chemical fertilizers and the advantages of organic. Superb combination to replace NPK Green

Functions: 2 In 1 Benefit Control Release Nutrient
Pellet 40kg/bag

Hi,

anybody got contacts for getting mushroom spawn or disposable petri dish?

thx in advance

Agri & Aqua Culturing Newsletter - December 2011 Issue

http://www.mediafire.com/?2j6vna2fvv87by9

Monsoon season is really giving me a headache.

lost about 10 nangka plants because of flooding...hopefully the mounding will decrease water logged areas....

how has the monsoon season affected your place ??

Sure.

For spawn culture:

Mushroom Ambra Biotech Sdn Bhd
07-663 3322

Golden Nature Food Sdn Bhd
03-62751171

any1 interested in joint venture/investing/partnership 8acre land with 3 ponds in Perak. the whole piece will go at RM70k+. email me at fish4sale@live.com / sms at 014-6023201

can also try Jalur Salju Sdn Bhd @ Pajam

Para:

Speaking of Jalur Salju, how did it go? You managed to meet Praba?

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Added on December 6, 2011, 8:40 pmMr Farmer:

Just realized no one had replied your post on rubber saplings.

Looks to me like canker. Mild cases can be cured. How is it now, anyway?

This post has been edited by Michael J.: Dec 6 2011, 08:40 PM