mmm..what a quench!

Dragon fruits are not only consumed as fresh but could be turned into straight drinks. It could be mixed with ice and a little bit of sugar. Muawh! What a taste!

Malaysian Dragon Fruit Growing Going Strong

Despite disease outbreak in Malaysia; some dragon fruit farms managed to escape from the catastrophe.This is due to the patience and unrentless effort to combat the disease problems.Farmers had managed to move forward from their past experiences to uphold this lucrative industry.While researchers at their utmost doing research to support the industry be it in farm production or by products. Research must be geared up in order to find new innovations and technological advancements as to cater future problems like climate change and organic farming.
A technical visit was made to a 10-acre in Selangor, to observe what are the problems faced by the growers.There are few problems that I encountered;

1. Weed control is still a challenge and this is due to high cost in weedicides like BASTA. Manual circle weeding is very tedious and laborious.
2. High cost of fertilizers. Agricultural inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and  other chemicals have risen very high to almost 50% increase.
3. Farm management especially mechanization. Large farms should consider machinery as to ease in spraying and in-field transportation.Appropriate planting distant had to be considered and proper planning in field design should be from experts.Such as water source, sunrise and sunset (angle of the sun), etc.
4. Harvesting and grading. There should be grades for fruits like A (450-500 g), B(350-450 g),C (less than 300g), D (small).

Mr. Kelvin from Singapore and  Dr.Zainudin during field visit 

Dragon fruit farm on hillside 

Intra rows - too close for machinery to go in 

Dragon planting intercrop with soursop and chempedak. Note weed problems.

Organic fertilizer used.

Close planting of dragon fruits.

Metabolites Studies in Dragon Fruits (Abstract).

YS Sew1, J Baharom 1, M Yaakob 2 and Z Meon 2

1Biotechnology Research Centre, 2Station Management Centre,
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Research Institute
MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia
Correspondence: sewyshin@mardi.gov.my

Background

Pitayas had gained much interest in society because of its exotic features, attractive colour, nutritional value and pleasant taste. Phenolic compounds and high phytoalbumin antioxidants value of pitayas are believed to prevent the formation of cancer-causing free radicals. However, research on the molecular studies of pitayas is very lacking and gene information of pitayas particularly in regards to their health benefit phyto-chemicals deposited in the public databases is extremely limited. With the aim to enrich genes information and identify genes that associated with secondary metabolism of red pitaya, we have carried out transcriptome study on a local variety of red pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus).

Results

Red pitayas were collected from MARDI Kundang Station with different ripening index. Total RNA of red pitaya fruits with 35 days after anthesis (DAA) were extracted and purified to get high quality total RNA. The purified total RNA was then subjected to Solexa sequencing using paired-end mRNA-seq method. The mRNA-seq sequencing results showed that total number of red pitaya paired-end reads obtained was 18,530,028 sequences and total number nucleotides obtained was 1,389,752,100nt. Sequence assembly using Velvet software revealed a total of 106,867 nodes. After the sequence filtering process (set value as >80bp/node), we obtained 62,333 nodes. The homology search on the filtered sequences against non-redundant nucleic acid database (NR) showed that 31,423 nodes with significant E-value≤10-5. It was found that there were at least 97 nodes mapped to secondary metabolic pathways via Blast2Go analysis, particularly the biosynthesis pathways of phenylproparoid, betalain, flavonoid, carotenoid and monoterpenoid.

Conclusion

The identification of genes involved in secondary metabolism and their corresponding biochemical pathways will enable us in harnessing the potential of red pitaya as functional food with optimal level of beneficial phyto-chemicals and also to control the production of those phyto-nutrients through genetic manipulation.

Antioxidant activity (ORAC) and total phenolics

Antioxidant activity (ORAC) and total phenolics of dragon fruits and fruits and vegetables compared to the selected tropical fruits


Fruit µM TE/g puree Total phenolic µg GA/g puree
--------------------------------------------------------------
blueberries 14 - 38 1810 - 4580
black raspberry 28.2 2670
blackberry 22.4 2260
garlic 19.4
red raspberry 18.2 2340
red guava 16.7 2317
strawberry 15.36
strawberry 14.9 1030
carambola 12.94 2208
spinach 12.6
white guava 9.9 1589
plum 9.49
red dragon 7.59 1076
orange 7.5
grape,red 7.39
mame 6.56 1010
kiwi fruit 6.02
lychee 5.42 770
grapefruit, pink 4.83
grape, white 4.46
longan 3.31 482
white dragon 2.96 523
banana 2.21
apple 2.18
ripe mango 2.17 509
carrot 2.1
tomato 1.89
green mango 1.49 50

Technical Visit to Semarang , Indonesia

This is my second visit to Indonesia. My first visit was  two years ago i.e. Jakarta and Bandung. I would like to see their living style,social,culture and landscape in the country. I noticed that Indonesia is a beautiful country blended with many types people of all kinds.Each country has their own strength and niche. I presume that the competition between each other  in this country is much greater  than mine.

Back to my visit to Semarang was a fruitful one where I was brought to see farms around Curuj, Ngebrug and also farms organised by Obor Tani in Wakanarto and Genting.

In Curuj, we visited a 700 acre- clove plantation called Cengkih Zanzibar owned by Pak Budi. During my visit, most of the plants were 10-15 years old  with heigth of 3 to 5 meters. One problem I noticed is picking the flowers  during harvesting. It requires about 3,000 workers to pluck all the flowers during that time in the entire farm. Most of the clove flowers were consumed by the cigarettes company. From agronomic perspectives, the farm should find ways of how to improve production, let say high density planting, mechanization and so forth.

I also visited a distillation unit nearby which extract clove oil. Matured and dried  cloves leaves were brought to the unit then boiled later, then the steam was cooled in a pond and condensed. The oil was separated and collected in containers arranged cascadingly.

There was also  has a dragon fruit which consisted of about 2 hectares in Curuj. The growth of the plants is extremely good with good agro-management and maintenance, however the fruits is still small i.e. 300 gm . What I noticed is that organic fertilization should be increased and given at least once in three month (3 kg) because dragon is a heavy feeder, if  this is not given then flowering and yield decreased. Since this field is free from diseases , then the planting materials can be used as cuttings in other farms. They

should follow the technical specifications in the guidelines which I had passed to them.

I also visited an agro tourism farm in Plantera where many types of fruits were planted. Fruits like durian, longan (mata kucing-Nephelium ), anona, dragon fruits, pomelo, rambutans were planted. We were brought in a tram assisted with their staffs. My observations was that the durians were infected by Phytopthora disease which very common in durians. They have taken preventions using copper fungicides but some branches were still infected. Infected branches or stems should scrapped off and cleaned, then paint with Bordeaux mixture. Organic fertilizer should also be improved.
As far as dragon fruit is concerned, about 30-50% of the farm is infected with diseases.Common disease like bacteria and fungus were obeserved and also yield was low.Stern actions should be taken like increase organic fertilization and foliar

applications as the plants branches were not thick and less green compared from previous farm in Curuj.

For mata kucing or longan, generally the growth is still ok, however I noticed there symptoms of leaf falling, dryness and yellowing. I suspected the roots must be infected by diseases, nematodes or whats not. The infected tree should be uprooted to see what is the real cause of infection.
As for anona, there are plants which is less growth as shown in reduced leaf numbers.Leaf foliar analysis should be done in order to ascertain the problems.

Then, I went to Wakarnoto which is 3 hour journey from Semarang. This is a 50 acre farm will be planted with dragon fruits that will be planted by farmers. ( I don't know where will they get cutting planting materials). The land has been cleaned and pillars will be installed. What I noticed is that nearby trees should be cut as dragon fruits need 100% sunlight. Although the land is fertile but organic fertilization is still needed 3 month once. A reservoir on top of a hill had already been built by Yayasan Obor Tani where there are plentiful of water.

.

I also had the chance to go to Genting,where a successful  50-acre longan project owned by farmers.The farmers were proud to show their farms. During my visit, the plants were not bearing fruits.We were also shown home-based products like fried-mushrooms made by fellow farmers

Finally, we go to Hortimart a fruit farm owned personnally by Pak Budi. A place where you can eat fruits and lunch. I was given a chance to talk on dragon fruits and share knowledge and ideas pertaining to this industry together with the chiefs, growers there.






I also went to Jogjakarta to see Chandi Borobodur, a world heritage. Besides, I also saw debris of the volcanic ash of Gunung Merapi which erupted a few  months ago and houses which had been damaged very badly.



Dragon Fruit Farm In Bukit Mertajam

A visit was made to observe the conditions of two dragon farms in Bukit Mertajam, Penang - red and white varieties. Suprisingly, that both farms were in good conditions meaning that they free from diseases. The yield was about 1.1 ton per ac. per month which is very high. Ex-farm price was good which is about RM5.00 per kg.  Some of the pictures of the farm as below;

The farmer showing his farm and explained some ideas pertaining dragon fruit growing.

 Some of the chemicals using to control pests. Newly blended.

Agarwood trees intercropped with dragon fruits (3 years old) -can not be seen  from far.

Agarwood (gaharu) seedlings ready to be planted .

From my observations, I may conclude that.

1. The sanitation and crop husbandary  was good where diseases and pests surveillance were carried daily.
2. Trained workers is very necessary  where quick action is taken whenever needed.
3. Good input particularly fertilizer quality.
4. Good spraying techniques using boom sprayers to cover most of plant parts.
5. Only reserved visitors allowed. Not opened to all as to control disease and pests .

The farmers was very happy with the farms as he has won twice in the farm competition that was held recently.  I may summarize that the farm could produce quality planting materials as long it follows SIRIM standard.

It is good to know that this farmer also planted agarwood (gaharu) intercropped with dragon fruits. This is done as to increase farm income in the future. Matured agarwood  will fetched up to RM40,000 (fourty thousand)  per kg once marketable after seven years to make perfumes.
Should anyone interested to know more about this farm please kindly email me zainudinhaji@gmail.com.
We are happy to help you in whatever way we can.

Belated Technical Paper

I have written a technical paper which was presented in Plant Physiology Conference in Kota Kinabalu Sabah. The title of the paper was Challenges in Dragon Fruit Growing in Malaysia. It was co-authored with one of my colleagues.

How To Buy Dragon Fruits in Supermarkets

Dragon fruits have high antioxidants particularly betacynin besides, it also contains phytoalbumins. These phytochemicals are good for the body especially to fight against cancer and bowels movement. But, if you want to buy dragon fruits from supermarkets here are some clues.
Look for fresh fruits, makesure the 'bracts' are not bruised or damaged. The fruits are soft and crush-free, reddish and round shape. (Some had oval shapes). The weight of the fruit is heavy and hard. It is also good if individual fruit are wrapped with soft polystyrene plastic or cover, so that fruits could not easily bruised.

One true story that I would like to share is that  one my friend who is about to conceive a baby. She was waiting quite sometime to have labour. While waiting, she took 2 or three  dragon fruits. Gosh.. it goes. She conceive easily. Happily after.

Another story, a friend of mine said his son had hypertension with 200/100 pressure. The doctor told his son to take about 8 pills, so he took it but nothing happen.Suddenly, his father got an idea and  gave his son  3 dragon fruits to eat- morning, afternoon and evening. You know what happen? the blood pressure went down to 140/80. So can try.

Dragon fruits sold in supermarkets.It is better if they are individually wrapped with polystyrene wrappers.

Yellow Dragon Fruit

Yellow dragon fruits are one the varieties planted here.However, only it is planted in a small scale.I have tasted and it is very sweet but the seeds are larger than the white and red varieties. The skin colour looks yellow and the fruits are quite small between 150 to 250 g compared to the red varieties which easily weighs up to 600-800g.

Dragon Fruit Disease

Our early findings was that 'white spots' caused on dragon fruits branches was due to sucking insects. I have gone at least three farms around the country to find out what is the main cause of white spots. From my observations, we detected no fungus or bacteria- like diseases. Our hypotheses is that the pathogen attack or damage only when there were punctures or small holes made by insects.Therefore, the disease came in later once the tissue ruptured. Our mission is to control the vector. It is not easy to find the vector because it very very small or minute to be seen with our naked eyes.
Our solution was try avoid those insects using organic oils etc. Here are my comments in Malay language

Dari pengamatan yang dibuat, adalah di percayai keratan batang dan buah yang dihantar buah naga tuan telah di serang oleh kumbang halus (scale insect) dimana kesan gigitan terdapat pada kulit. Ada kemungkinan pendapat adalah disebabkan bakteria.

Rawatan pemberian racun berbentuk `broadspectrum’ seperti Decis, Rogor atau mempunyai racun yang mempunyai bahan aktif `dimethoate’ adalah difikirkan sesuai. Sekiranya jangkitan disebabkan bakteria racun Kocide boleh digunakan.

Disamping itu kebersihan ladang seperti rumput rumpai hendaklah dijaga. Syor kami ialah menyembur tanaman buah naga (dragon fruits) dengan baja foliar, racun kulat dan racun serangga berbentuk `cocktail’ iaitu bebe ntuk campuran. (10 g Welgrow (baja foliar); 10 g Lebacid (racun serangga) dan 20 g Manzate-D (racun kulat) di campur dengan 1 gelen air.

Lighting for Dragon Fruits

Lighting installed in dragon fruit farm


I came across innovative farmers somewhere in Johore who manage to induce floweeing in dragon fruits using lights. Of course there are costs incurred however the yield produced could offsets the initial investments. As we know that that dragon fruits is a long day plant where more sunshine is needed especially to trigger flowering.


Flower buds emerged from terminal shoots

Here are some pics that can shared with hobbyists, planters and farmers alike so that they have some idea of what I am talking about.

There are more things to find out in particular;
a) what is the voltage and how long is used?
b) when and how should be it installed ?
c) the distant and height from each tree?

These are some questions that I posed during my visits to the farm. Should anyone interest to know more pls let me know.

Red and White flesh Dragon fruits.

It very interesting to note that the popular dragon fruits in this country is red and white flesh varieties eventhough there are yellow ones. From reports that the red pigment is made up of betanin , betacyanin and lycopene. These are anthocyanins group which are antioxidants good for the body metabolisme.

Betanins are " An anthocyanin that contains nitrogen and constitutes the principal pigment of garden beets.

Report says that Betanin, or Beetroot Red, is a red glycosidic food dye obtained from beetroot; its glycone, obtained by hydrolyzing away the glucose molecule, is betanidin. As a food additive, its E number is E162. Betanin degrades when subjected to light, heat, and oxygen; therefore, it is used in frozen products, products with short shelf life, or products sold in dry state. [1]

Betanin can survive pasteurization when in products with high sugar content. Its sensitivity to oxygen is highest in products with high content of water and/or containing metal cations (eg. iron and copper); antioxidants like ascorbic acid and sequestrants can slow this process down, together with suitable packaging. In dry form betanin is stable in presence of oxygen.

Betanin is usually obtained from the extract of beet juice; the concentration of betanin in red beet can reach 300-600 mg/kg. Other dietary sources of betanin and other betalains include the opuntia cactus, Swiss chard, and the leaves of some strains of amaranth.

While , lycopene is a red, fat-soluble pigment found in vegetables, and most commonly found in tomatoes. It is one of a family of pigments called carotenoids. Carotenoids are naturally occurring pigments responsible for the brightly colored fall leaves and the vivid colors of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. In fruits and vegetables, these pigments range in hue from bright yellow in squash, to orange in carrots, to bright red in tomatoes and peppers.

Lycopene (as well as other carotenoids such as lutein and beta-carotene) may also help prevent macular degenerative disease, the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 65.

Lycopene is the only micronutrient whose serum level was shown to be inversely related to the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Email from India (Cultivation of Dragon Fruit in India)

Email from sabari uma (India)

Dear sir,

Thanks for sharing your article with me , it was useful but i have few question for you , what is the right temperature to grow this fruit . 

for example i have farms in hill station where the max temp is 35 to 36 and the min temp is 17 to 20 c . and i have farm with 38 to 40 high temp and min of 20 to 22 c . so which climate is best to cultivate dragon fruit ? is my first question and what is best variety to cultivate ?

please guide me in detail to get more information on dragon fruit cultivation .

Thanking you ,

Kind Request , 

Answer

Thank you. You can read my article at http://www.scribd.com/doc/91726161/Dragon-Fruits-Cutivation-in-Malaysia. Should need help pls contact me.

Revolutionize Your Cultivation in Dragon Fruits

Normally farmers in Malaysia planted dragon fruits 3 meter X 3 meter, which makes 500 poles or stake to an acre using about 2,000 cuttings. However, with a high density planting concept (close planting) more plants could be planted to a unit area up to 10,000 plants per acre.
I have seen a farm which practice this technique. In this way yield could be increase tremendously.

Growing Dragon Fruits Needs Concrete Support

Dragon fruits are easy to grow however it needs support or stake to stand on. Its succulent stems are tender and branches upwards and later downwards. Long and mature branches also needs support to rest on before flowering commences. The soil must be good condition such as sand soil and sand loam soil because their have rich an organic material for growing

Dragon fruits -the miracle fruits

Besides being consumed fresh, the red dragon fruit can be processed into cordial, jam,wine and other products. There are reports that the content and the skin of dragon fruit can become natural food coloring and lipsticks. This natural food coloring is safe to be used because it does not have any side effects and no harm to our health. Young shoots can be cooked just like we cook lady's finger. Its nutritious. There is another source vegetable which had medicinal value in our diet. The dry flowers can be processed to make tea.

The potential of the dragon fruit plantation to increase is very bright due to untapped downstream activities of its by products. This is supported by early investment return, less risk high market demand compared other tropical fruits.

Standards of Planting Materials Specifications.

I have just finished preparing Standards of Planting Materials for Dragon Fruits with SIRIM. The Bahasa Malaysia version has completed for submission and public circulation. The English version has completed with a few corrections and ammendments.

We hope that the Standards for preparing planting materials will be used as guidelines for nurseries and growers soon. This is in particular to avoid unscruplous sellers to cheat growers with unauthentic planting materials.

Many farmers have been cheated by irresponsible brokers and sellers to promote their planting materials. This has caused many farms to 'close shop' and cannot operate due to low quality planting materials.

So if you are interested to invest in this lucrative farming, my advice is that solicit or ask the right fellas so that you are been conned.



Good luck.

PECTINS FROM DRAGON FRUIT (Hylocereus polyrhizus) PEEL

PECTINS FROM DRAGON FRUIT (Hylocereus polyrhizus) PEEL

NAZARUDDIN, R.1*, NORAZELINA, S.M.I.1, NORZIAH, M.H.2 and ZAINUDIN, M.3
1School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
2School of Industry Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
3Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
*Email: naza@ukm.my

ABSTRACT

The extraction of pectin from a by-product of dragon fruit processing, was identified as an alternative source for commercial
pectin. In this work, dried alcohol-insoluble residues (AIR) of dragon fruit peels were treated separately with ammonium
oxalate/oxalic acid 0.25 %, pH 4.6, 85oC; HCl 0.03 M, pH 1.5, 85oC; and deionised water, 75oC. The pectin obtained
from these methods were compared in term of yield, color, gelling characteristic and chemical structure. The highest yield
for the extracted pectin from dragon fruit peels was 20.1 % (dry weight basis) by ammonium oxalate/oxalic acid extraction,
contained 11.2 % moisture and 6.9 % ash. Extraction by deionised water yielded 15.4 % pectin, 11.3 % moisture and 11.6
% ash. Whereas, the acid extraction gave the lowest yield 15 %), 11.1 % moisture and 12 % ash. The amount of pectin
from all extraction conditions were comparable to pectin obtained from commercial apple (12 %) or citrus (25 %). Gel
hardness test was performed for gelling properties measurement. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
was useful in the identifying dragon fruit pectins. Different conditions used in the extraction do not show a difference in
the pectin structure. With a good recovery yield and gelling properties, ammonium oxalate-extracted dragon fruit pectin
present good characteristics to be exploited industrially as food additive.
ABSTRAK
Pengekstrakan pektin daripada sisa pemprosesan buah naga telah dikenal pasti sebagai sumber alternatif bagi pektin
komersial. Dalam kajian ini, pepejal tak larut alkohol (AIR) kering daripada kulit buah naga diperlakukan secara berasingan
dengan ammonium oksalat/asid oksalik 0.25 %, pH 4.6, 85oC; HCl 0.03 M, pH 1.5, 85oC; dan air ternyahion, 75oC. Pektin
yang diperolehi melalui kaedah ini dibandingkan dari segi hasil, warna, ciri penggelan dan struktur kimia. Hasil pektin
tertinggi daripada kulit buah naga ialah 20.1 % (berat kering) menggunakan ekstraksi ammonium oksalat/asid oksalik,
mengandungi 11.2 % air dan 6.9 % abu. Ekstraksi menggunakan air ternyahion menghasilkan 15.4 % pektin, 11.3 % air
dan 11.6 % abu. Manakala, ekstraksi asid memberikan hasil yang terendah (15 %), 11.1 % air dan 12 % abu. Pektin yang
terhasil daripada semua keadaan pengekstrakan adalah setanding dengan pektin epal (12 %) atau sitrus (25 %) komersial.
Ujian kekerasan gel dilakukan bagi mengukur sifat penggelan. Spektroskopi inframerah (FTIR) amat berguna bagi mengenal
pasti pektin buah naga. Keadaan berbeza yang digunakan dalam pengekstrakan tidak menunjukkan perbezaan dalam struktur
pektin. Dengan perolehan hasil serta ciri penggelan yang baik, pektin buah naga hasil pengekstrakan menggunakan
ammonium oksalat/asid oksalik mempunyai ciri yang baik untuk diterokai secara industri sebagai bahan tambah makanan.
Key words: Dragon fruit; Pectin; Alcohol insoluble residue; Extraction conditions

Source: Malays. Appl. Biol. (2015) 40(1): 1P9E-C23TINS

I'm Back Again

I have been away for a month and half and now I'm back again. From I what I observed my visitor's counter has hit 10K. Not bad.
Actually during that absence I was doing my hajj pilgrimage in Makkah , Saudi Arabia. There I performed my prayer, thawaf, saie, wukuf , mabit and jamarat . During my presence, about 4 million people were there. They have to wear ihram ( 2- piece white seamless clothes for males). Every body is equal - rich or poor, strong or weak etc. No differences in races. Hajj video here.

The food in Saudi is very expensive . Fruits like banana may fetch up to USD 2 per kg. Apple -1 USD per piece.

The weather was extremely hot and hazy. In Madinah , 400 km north of Makkah. the weather was very cool in the morning - up 8 C.

Fruits like dragon fruits was hardly seen.However there is very great potential to export there.

M.A.H.A.2015

The Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show (MAHA) 2015 will be held from end of November to Mid December 2015 this year. This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture recently over radiobroadcast. This year will attract 2 million visitors to the show which will be held at the MAEPS in Serdang, Malaysia. So those who did not where the place is , please browse Google Earth.

This is the biggest agricultural event in Malaysia which was once launched in 2015. It has attracted about 1 million visitors then. We expect a lot will turn up this year.

There will be local and international booths from all agriculture sectors, besides naming champion farmer of the year, fisherman of the year, and livestock rearer of the year and many more events. Events from livestock, fishery and agriculture, state pavillions, and whats not.

As time passed by, many improvements have been made especially exposition halls, fields, transportation and so on. One must bring the neccesary items like umbrella, drinks, etc wear sports shoe, T-shirt, stroller or trolley to buy plants etc. Trams will be there to bring you around in 500 acre expo. Don't miss.

The event to held is just next to my office. What a pleasure...Welcome to Malaysia.

Pls contact me if you happen to visit.

Integrated Farming With Dragon Fruits in Selangor,Malaysia

Dragon fruit planting using single-pole technique

The farm is about one and half hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, somewhere in Kalumpang, Selangor. This farm planted dragon fruits for about 40 acres .They used to plant dragon fruits one- foot apart using trellis system.The inter row distant was 6 feet. However, they could not make it because for about year the system could support the heavy branches of dragon fruits which was estimated about 40 to 60 kg per plant. They replanted the again using single-pole having four plants attached. It seems that this technique workable.

Discussion with the farmer Mr.Lim about foliar fertilizers and fungicides used.

Fertilization was done both using granular (6:10:30 or 13:10:20) and foliar.Granular fertilizer was given 10-20 gram for every two week  for every pole and foliar was given biweekly plus with Mancozeb. The rate of foliar spray was 1.5 L foliar fertilizer plus 1 pack of Mancozeb (1 kg)  to 100 litres of water. The farmer gave very little fertilizer but very frequent. Disease surveillance was done daily scouted by 2 workers.  



Dragon fruits with agarwood (5 feet tall  2 years old)



Dragon fruits with pineapple



Newspaper cutting showing price of agarwood  grades -Grade A (MYR 25,000 about USD 7,5000 per kg)



The farmers integrated the farm with agarwood with planting distant 5 ft X 5 ft. In Malay agarwood is gaharu. This farmer planted 20,000 agarwood plants intercropped with dragon fruits.Besides, he also intercropped part of the dargon fruits areas with pineapple.

With his initiative, the farmer also built 20 X 100 ft. swiftlet bird house four storey high. Swiftlet industry is booming in Malaysia with govenment support. The bird house is only eight month old and managed to harvest swiftlet nest, however the investment is very high.When the bird house has stabled, the farmer can shake legs. Swiflet nest price at MYR 3,000 (USD 1000) per kg (raw) and MYR 10,000 (USD2500) (cleaned)

Note: USD1=MYR 3.(MYR stands for Malaysian Ringgit)

A four-storey high swiftlet bird house at the back

.

For more infomation regarding to this please feel free to contact me at zainudinhaji@gmail.com .