School in Perak generates income through fertigation project

PASIR SALAK - The idea of ​​Sekolah Menengah Raja Dr Nazrin Shah (SARJANA) to utilise the vacant land in the school compound is bearing fruits when vegetable crops through fertigation yielded encouraging results.

Even though the vacant land that is being cultivated is not big, the 'small' project that is being worked on is of great benefit when it succeeded in generating side income for the Environmental Club and Consumer Club of the school.

As it is now the project under the coordinating teachers Ahmad Tarmizi Zohiri and Mohd Afzal Sapi In is able to earn up to RM700 per harvest with a production of up to 100 kilogrammes (kg) within two to three months.

The principal of SARJANA, Ahmad Tazally Mohamad Zain said the project which started in 2022 was a collaboration of the Perak Islamic Religious and Malay Custom Council (MAIPk) through its subsidiary Perbadan Ekonomi Ekonomi Perak Sdn Bhd.

"This activity can also expose students to the ways of growing vegetables, how to protect plants and deal with pests including managing sales. This means that from the beginning of planting until the product is sold, they get exposure.

"So at SARJANA we don't just focus on profits but more on equipping students agricultural knowledge that can be used after finishing school here and that is our goal," he said when met by Bernama here recently.

Ahmad Tazzaly said that the project was implemented with a consultant appointed to build a fertigation plant system without using land and SARJANA only carried out the planting.

"Students selected from these various fields are not only able to learn theoretically about planting and managing vegetables, but they are also in the field to farm in the afternoon after the end of the school session.

"In the beginning we selected students from the sixth form, now the Form Two students are managing it and we will change every time there is a new planting season so that all SARJANA students can appreciate the benefit of working on the land.

"In addition, the harvested crops will be sold in the market wholesale including to the community around Kampung Gajah and for now we sell RM2 for every kilogramme of vegetables sold according to the market price and the earning will go back to the students," he said.

According to Ahmad Tazally, the project proves the role of SARJANA in carrying out activities that support several sustainable development targets (SDGs) namely zero hunger recommended by the government.

"Even though we are doing it on a small scale, the development is very positive, even the students who participate in this project give good commitment and received positive feedback even though they do not have basic knowledge about agriculture or farming science.

"In the future, we plan to increase the number of crops given the high demand, especially the wholesalers who come, including the surrounding community, who said the vegetables we produce are of good quality," he said.

He said that at the beginning of the project, in addition to fertigation, he also cultivated lemongrass and okra plants conventionally.

"We also expose students to plants conventionally so that they know how to grow them, but for okra we need full attention and it needs to be harvested every morning to avoid over-ripening, but in the morning students are involved in school sessions.

"After the vegetables are harvested, we sell them to wholesalers and parents of students who come to visit their children every week via a special counter," he said.

Ahmad Tazally hopes that the efforts made can be continued in the future to ensure that the students, get useful benefits besides the effective impact of the project's results. - BERNAMA