Papayas, bananas pave road to success for young farmer

Free Malaysia Today

2 days ago

Muhammad Qayyum Zunkurnain picked up the tricks of the agricultural trade by helping his father, himself a farmer. (Bernama pic)
KUALA KANGSAR : While most of his peers have chosen salaried jobs or to pursue higher education, Muhammad Qayyum Zunkurnain has opted for farming gear and hard work.
Today, the 24-year-old earns a lucrative income by cultivating papayas and bananas on 3.25ha of land.
Qayyum told Bernama that he learnt the ropes of agriculture by observing his father, himself a farmer. 'I would help him grow vegetables and, once I finished SPM, I started my own small business selling bananas and papayas,' he recalled.
As things went along, however, he realised he didn't have enough supply to keep up with demand. 'So I decided to grow my own to meet the needs of customers.'
Qayyum embarked on his venture with a small amount of capital – just enough to buy him 1,000 papaya and banana plants. Today, his farm has 3,000 papaya trees and 4,000 banana plants, which provide him with monthly revenue of up to RM13,000.
He said he chose papayas as they are in high demand among Malaysians, particularly older people, thanks to their digestive-health benefits. Papayas also serve as an interim crop while the bananas mature.
Asked about papaya cultivation, he said it is not particularly difficult in Malaysia, as it only has two main seasons – wet and dry. During rainy seasons, the trees flower easily and bear fruit quickly.
Running a farm is hard work, but Qayyum's efforts have paid off with monthly revenue of up to RM13,000 and further plans to expand. (Bernama pic)
Still, things haven't always been easy. 'At first, I failed after planting 1,000 papaya trees. But I tried again and thank God, it worked. Then, demand started increasing,' Qayyum shared.
'But even now, the fruits from my farm are only enough for local consumption and to market to Perak, Penang and Selangor to be sold at night markets. In fact, the recent hot weather affected fruit production and led to a shortage in our locality.'
Qayyum, who is married, added that some people initially looked down on his profession. But after seeing his impressive returns, many have approached him asking to work on his farm and learn to follow in his footsteps.
He has also received support from the Senggang and Manong Area Farmers Organisation, Perak agricultural department, and the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).
And eventually, he hopes to produce downstream items from the literal fruits of his labour.
'For now, though, my farm isn't big enough. To develop a product line, I would need more than 10,000 trees – but I'm working towards that goal,' he said.