AMPANG – Urban farming involving rice paddy, herbs, mix of vegetables and fruits plots in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur has been thriving, generating economic sustainability for the strata communities.
Realising the need to battle the rising cost of living and food inflation, residents, mainly senior citizens, in densely populated flats and apartments have ventured into small-scale vegetable farming on unused plot of lands.
Against the backdrop of the Petronas Twin Towers, skyscrapers and elevated highways, the community gardens produce fast-growing vegetables such as Brazilian spinach, pennywort or “pegaga”, chillies, brinjal, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, pumpkin, amaranth, roselle flowers and okra.
Apart from their own consumption, the community garden groups at Columbia flats in Taman Keramat, Cemara Apartment in Cheras Hartamas and AU1B/1 flats in Taman Keramat Permai sell the agro products below the market price directly to their neighbourhood.
“This is a community effort and we just want to help each other, especially the single mothers and pensioners, by selling various vegetables at affordable ‘rahmah’ price,” the head of community garden of Flat Columbia, Mohamad Halim Mohamad Said, told The Vibes.
They also venture into uncharted territory in Klang Valley by harvesting rice paddy on hill terrains and riverbanks as well as churning out grapes, Musang King durians, and strawberries.
Over the years, Flat Columbia and Cemara Apartment communities have each yielded monetary revenue between RM10,000 to RM13,000 annually, which includes winning various gardening competitions organised by the authorities at district, state and national levels, as well as the sale of agro products to the neighbourhood.
Halim said his group was fortunate to have the company of ducks and Holland Lop rabbits within the vicinity.
“We enjoy between 18 to 21 duck eggs daily and sometimes we sell them,” said the 51-year-old mechanical and engineering consultant.
In retrospect, the 0.8-ha land was formerly identified as a notorious area that hosted illegal foreign squatters and drug dens in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2015, the community decided to turn the green space close to Sg Klang into a gardening venture with consent from the Irrigation and Drainage Department.
“We received support from a financial institution’s CSR project. Then, the River of Life programme came into the picture and we lent our hand to help to keep the river clean,” said Siti Rahayu Tahir, who has been residing in Flat Columbia since 1973.
On the paddy plots, Halim said, the group received rice variety seeds codename MR269 from the Selangor Agricultural Department in the past four years.
“It has been rice cultivation twice a year. The (rice) plots are small and we normally produce between 6kg to 8kg of rice.
“But occasionally, there are lots of disruptions from birds which decrease the cultivation at some stage,” he said, adding that the farm operated a rainwater harvesting system and composting.
He said the group planned to improve the rice harvesting by increasing the surveillance and size of the paddy plots.
“We always want to improve with the help of the Selangor Agriculture Department,” he added.
Who said strawberries won’t grow in suburban flats?
“Two years ago, the Cameron Highlands farmers sceptically told me it was next to impossible to plant strawberries in the typical open space of Klang Valley due to hot and high humidity conditions,” said Flat AU1B/1 community garden chief Sapiah Mat Khalip.
The 62-year-old garden enthusiast was determined to prove the doubters wrong.
“I think we just need to be consistent in watering the plants and avoid them from being in dry condition,” she asserted. “It is a sense of satisfaction upon seeing the results.”
Since then, the group of housewives and pensioners have adopted the gardening mission at the corner of their residential block.
“It is a healthy activity for us early in the morning and late evening other than taking care of the family or the grandchildren.”
Sapiah is pleased that the neighbourhood farming concept received a decent response even during the Covid-19 pandemic era.
“Our key and calamansi limes, brinjal and ‘kangkung’ have been bestsellers among the neighbours,” she said. “We even managed to send the ‘pegaga’ (Asiatic pennywort) to an enterprise to process it into organic healthy snacks.”
Dengue outbreak sparks hill gardening
Unperturbed by the construction of the Sg Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), whose gigantic structure passes the hillslope beside the Cheras Hartamas Cemara Apartment, residents there embarked on a greenhouse project in producing a consistent supply of mixed vegetables and fruits.
“It all started back in 2018 when we did a ‘gotong-royong’ to clear up the bushes after a few cases of dengue in the neighbourhood,” said Cemara Apartment community garden leader Sufian Mansor.
Since then, the group consisting of 10 members, aged between 47 and 69 years old, cultivate a wide range of crops by applying recycled gardening ideas and deep flow techniques for the hygrowpot as well as hydroponics production systems.
The group also deployed an automated solar system for irrigation and fertilisation for kangkung and sawi gardening.
“Many of us learned from YouTube about green concept or using recycled materials, including to power up the garden using a solar system,” said the 55-year-old hijab clothing entrepreneur.
He said that the current hill paddy planting is expected to harvest close to the SUKE pillars in November.
“We sourced the (rice) seeds from a friend in Sarawak and we will continue to monitor the growth with the advice of agricultural officers,” he said.
He added that the 0.9-ha garden adopted the low-carbon community concept via recycled organic carbon and nutrients, and composite fertiliser using fermentation.
“We also learned how to capitalise the food and garden waste, and this has been an educational process for the community,” Sufian said.
Dynamic support from authorities
The community garden leaders applauded the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), Selangor Agricultural Department, and the Irrigation and Drainage Department for their support and the success of their green activities.
“When we informed the authorities that we wanted to do – land clearing and vice versa – we received encouragement from all agencies,” said Taman Keramat Flat Columbia group leader Halim.
He also said that a mini library was constructed within the garden’s compound as a result of the support from the local council.
Recalling the early days, Cheras Hartamas Cemara Apartment urban farming volunteers’ head Sufian said: “MPAJ provided us with seeds, advice, backhoe machine and technical support while the Selangor Agriculture Department constantly gives us advice and courses.”
MPAJ youth and community department head Khairilazhar Ismail said initially, there were 52 community gardens under its administration.
“We always welcome any residential groups or associations to embark into a green regime, which includes urban farming, recycling lifestyle, recreational activities and vice versa,” he said.
“Just send an application to us, no need for a working paper, and we will evaluate if the proposed land is suitable and we can connect and administer with relevant authorities and the private sector.”
However, he said, MPAJ conducts constant checks to ascertain active groups as well as to ensure appropriate land use and in accordance with the bylaws.
“As of now, there are 42 active community garden groups throughout Ampang Jaya,” he said.
Khairilazhar is proud to note that community gardens under MPAJ’s jurisdiction, namely in Bukit Indah, Taman Keramat Permai, Cheras Indah, Taman Muda, Pandan Indah, Cheras Hartamas and Pandan Jaya, had clinched several awards at the state and national levels over the years.
“These places have generated interest among schools, universities and gardening interest groups in the Klang Valley.
“For example, the Taman Keramat Flats Columbia is now recognised as agro-tourism and gardening info centre, Cheras Indah as an educational place for schoolchildren, Cheras Hartamas Cemara Apartment on green lifestyle, and Bukit Indah for utilising modern agricultural technologies,” he said. – The Vibes, August 31, 2023
