Compiled by FATIMAH ZAINAL, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
IMAGINE walking in your backyard in Kelantan and picking strawberries, despite not living in the cool highlands.
That’s exactly what Mohammad Arif Aizat Shukri has been doing since he replanted a strawberry shrub that he bought from Terengganu in November 2019.
The plant grows in the backyard of his home in Selising, Pasir Puteh, reported Utusan Malaysia.
The 20-year-old said his experiment was a success and within two years, his backyard was filled with strawberry plants, which bear fruit all year round. They are also sold as seedlings.
Mohammad Arif Aizat said the quality of the fruits was similar to the ones grown in the cooler climate of Cameron Highlands.
“Even in hot weather, the fruits produced are sweeter than strawberries in the market. This is because they are exposed directly to sunlight.
“Now there are three varieties of strawberries that I cultivate, namely Japanese sweet charlie, Albion and Angel Eight. There are more than 300 plants that are matured and can be used as a mother plant for re-seeding,” he said.
He said as many as 1,000 seedlings and matured plants are ready to be sold at his home nursery.
Each plant is priced between RM10 and RM30.
He has also started a site called Strawberryfarm Selising on social media for people to share matters related to strawberry cultivation.
> Several freshwater fish pond cultivators in Jempol, Negri Sembilan, lost their fish stock during the recent floods, costing them tens of thousands of ringgit.
Harian Metro reported the plight of Ab Rahim Lembek, 73, who owns 11 fishing ponds.
He lost 13,200 fish, which included tilapia and catfish, when the currents washed them away. The water level during the floods reached about two metres high.
He said that his business, which he started in 2015, saw loses in the tens of thousands of ringgit but he had no choice but to accept his fate.
Ab Rahim said he also lost 150 free-range chickens in the floods, which was the second worst after the one that hit in 2011.
“All my chickens in the shed died and 60 ducks and five geese are all the livestock I have left because they managed to seek shelter on the roof and nearby trees,” he said.
Also facing the same fate is catfish cultivator, A. Ghani Kolan, 80, whose 10,000 catfish died when his fishing pond was damaged during the floods.
His losses are estimated to be around RM10,000.
Freshwater fish cultivator Zainuddin Hamzah, 73, too, has been made about RM20,000 poorer when 5,000 of his fishes including tilapia and tinfoil barb species were washed away during the floods.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.