GUA MUSANG: Razali Ayeh, 48, suffered big losses when his banana and jackfruit farms were destroyed by elephants. However, he did not throw in the towel and admit defeat, instead he began to cultivate cash crops such as sweet potatoes.
Razali, an Orang Asli from the Temiar tribe, said although he only got active in the cultivation in April, he now has 4,000 yellow and purple sweet potato plants and expects to receive a one-tonne harvest.
"I plucked up the courage to dive into this field after attending an agriculture course, organised by the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) and Agriculture Department after suffering the utter disappointment several years ago where I lost my banana and jackfruit plots due damage caused by the elephants.
"Thank God that the sale of the sweet potatoes are a source of income for me and my family," he told reporters when met at Kampung Redip, Pos Hau, here yesterday (July 4).
According to Razali, he was able to penetrate a wider market and get a higher demand for his produce when he started promoting the sweet potatoes via social media platforms TikTok and Facebook.
"From my initial experiment after two months of cultivation, I was able to sell 300 kilogrammes (kg) of sweet potatoes to local residents and customers in Kuala Betis, Gua Musang.
"I only cultivated land on a small scale, not even 0.4 hectares. So, I am very happy because after more than two months of cultivating the crop, it has given me a good yield," he said.
Razali said he sells his sweet potatoes at RM5 a kg, and at the same time offers customers the experience of picking sweet potatoes themselves from his farm.
"I also give customers a RM1 discount, at a price of RM4 a kg, when they buy more than 10 kg of sweet potatoes," he said.
Razali also expressed his thankfulness to Jakoa for reigniting his spirits some time ago by inviting him to participate in an agriculture course based on sweet potato plants at the Department of Agriculture office in Besut, Terengganu, last year.
"From there I got help and other agricultural input so that I could continue growing sweet potatoes," he added. – Bernama