A husband and wife recently made over RM30,000 on their first red onion harvest, prompting them to expand their agricultural project operating step by step.
Azhar Arshad, 57, and his wife Haslina Hassan, 59 first started off with only two hectares of land in September in Kampung Pasir Sia, Pahang.
Azhar said in three months, the ‘Bima Brebes’ red onions can be harvested and as for the second phase of the project, an area measuring 1.8 hectares will be added with plantation work beginning from next year, Berita Harian reported.
During the first phase, the couple managed to harvest almost four tonnes of red onions worth more than RM30,000, making it their first successful attempt despite facing multiple hurdes due to lack of experience.
The couple were taught how to harvest onion crop by a farmer in West Sumatera, Indonesia during a visit but the lessons were not enough to equip them to face the challenges of planting red onions.
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He added that a great advantage in planting red onions is the short period of time it takes to mature, which is between 75 to 90 days also noting that caring for the red onion crops does not require much effort compared to other vegetables.
Azhar said his his keen interest in farming red onions is not a “burden”, as quoted, to him despite the long journeys he takes every week all the way to Pahang from Sepang, Selangor.
However, this is not the couple’s first stint in cultivating produce as it is said they ran an orchard five years ago handling a variety of fruits such as durians, pineapples, coconuts, jackfruits, bananas and ‘master’ or also known as ‘mesta’.
“The challenge in red onion farming is the weather, especially the rain, as these plants cannot tolerate excessive water. In addition, the crops are also susceptible to diseases such as fungi, which cause the onions to rot.
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“I am confident that this second phase of the project will yield results that are far greater compared to the previous harvest,” Azhar, who works as a oil palm plantation manager, was quoted as saying.
Haslina, in the meantime, said her interest in growing and harvesting red onions drove both her and her husband to try their hands at it, at which it still relatively an unfamiliar practice in Malaysia compared to Indonesia and India.
“The high demand for onions in this country is the reason we decided to try this crop, which has a promising market.
“We were assisted by six workers and received guidance from the Pahang Agriculture Department and the Jerantut District Agriculture Office. We aim to become the leading onion producers in Pahang.” she was quoted as saying.
