INTEREST IN MATOA FRUIT FARMING GROWING THANKS TO LUCRATIVE RETURNS

JITRA, June 23 (Bernama) -- Interest in farming matoa fruit is growing thanks to the promise of lucrative returns, a smallholder from Kedah shared today.

Retired Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) professor, Prof Aziz Romli, 66, claims that he currently enjoys the ‘fruits of his labour’ even though he started off planting matoa on a small scale.

“I started off with six matoa trees 10 years ago and all of them are fruiting now. At first I didn’t know the uniqueness of this tree and just planted them for fun to fill up my free time.

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“The trees started to flower when they were three years old and if I knew it would be a ‘hit’, I would have planted hundreds of them on my three-hectare property, which is currently planted with rubber trees,” he told reporters at his house in Kampung Kubang Menerong, Padang Sera near here today.

He said that his matoa trees, scientifically known as Pometia pinnata trees, have already flowered twice this year, first in February, which produced fruits he harvested in April, and the second time in May, which he plans to harvest in July.

“The demand for the fruits is very high and prices are also high, around RM30 to RM38 a kilogramme, it’s already like prices for durian, and I do reap a windfall every time matoa season comes around.

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“If the weather is good and there’s no drought, each tree will produce even more fruit and for me it’s good enough as a crop… the fruits on this tree have already been booked even before they are ripe,” he pointed out, adding that the fruit, which is also called ‘buah krystal’ is said to have a unique taste that combines lychee, rambutan and durian.

Aziz is advocating for villagers to cultivate matoa to generate more income as the trees will bear fruit after three years.

“At the age of seven, the trees will yield even more fruits and they are easy to tend to and are resilient to disease. I recommend that people plant them on their own or commercially to take advantage of the high demand,” he added.

-- BERNAMA