*Diamond Member*
Posts: 21246
Liked By: 8440
Joined: 08 Jul 03
Followers:
23
Tipsters Championship:
Player
has not started
|
Sample of Gaharu Sample of coffee Sample of cloves A plant nusery that have been set up to protect the shoots from ailments. More Photos The visit to Sarikan brings more insight on the Sustenance programs. The Serai Wangi (Lemon Grass) program is on track and you can see the 2nd arce had been cleared. Crops for the 1st Phase did not grow so well as it were planted on a sloping land. Due to geographic reasons, as long there is any stream or river surrounding the area, it means the land won't hold much water as the rain fall will trickle towards the water source hence becoming a slope after many years. We learned from this experience, losses are about SG320 worth of lemon grass shoots. Also, since my last visit in late Jan till early March 2012, there were lesser rainfall and the land conditions became less ideal for the plants as well. I had devised a few contingencies as part of a bigger study to see how we can tackle these issues. 4 solutions will be implemented to eradicate these problems. 1) 2 expert planters who specialize in lemon grass planting will be hired to give some advice, they will study the ground types for a week. Cost: SGD 200 / pax (Flight tickets provided, accommodations and meals given by the church) 2) 5 different types of lemon grass shoots have been ordered to trial the plant suitability on each of the 15 acres measuring 2m by 2m. SGD 250 (SG 50 / batch) 3) 18 locals will be trained by the 2 experts. 4) Build an irrigation system using water from the streams as a back-up for dry weather. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As part of a further expansion, several plants are also on trial, they are Gaharu, Cloves and Coffee. Gaharu is a valuable plant as the resin from it's bark is one of the main component in perfume making. The resin can generate up to SG2000 per kg depending on the resin grade type. Cloves and coffee are main staples, that can be used both for self consumption and sales produce. All these are still at trial stages. I will be conducting my next visit in Oct 2012..... Stay tune for the next update. Yours Truly, GP.
This message was edited by Gentlepleas on 26-Mar-2012 @ 1:49 PM
|