Tang showing the long beans at his farm.
Part of Tang’s farm in Sg Bidut.
These eggplants are wrapped to shield them from pesticides.
Tang’s worker manning the farm.
The workers’ quarter at Tang’s farm.
Tomato seedlings.
Ready for the market.
SIBU: Tang Liung Poh, 49, and his fellow small-time farmers are clamouring for a bigger piece of land to realise their ambition of doing big-scale farming.
Tang, who is Sarawak Sibu Farmers’ Association (SSFA) chairman, said the association hoped that the state government could approve their application for 3,000 acres for its members for big-scale farming.
“To have such a big piece of land for farming won’t just help us as farmers, but it could also contribute to the economy of Sibu,” he told The Borneo Post in an interview yesterday.
He said the association had about 300 members, most of them from Sungai Bidut. Tang, who has always loved farming, has been a farmer for about 40 years.
Ten years ago, he decided to ‘expand’ by renting 10 acres in Sungai Bidut to grow various crops.
“Small-time farming is tough. We don’t have the modern farming techniques. Our production depends very much on weather.”
Tang said that explained why his association members wanted to go into big-scale farming.
“We’ve held many meetings over our application to the government for 3,000 acres for us to engage in bigger scale farming. But we’re sad there has been no reply to our application.”
Tang also mentioned the plight of farmers in Sungai Bidut, saying bad weather and floods were enough to put their livelihood in dire straits. He experienced flooding first
hand in 2004, 2007, 2009, last year and the latest was last month, where all crops on his five-acre farm were totally destroyed.
“An acre can produce RM2,000 worth of vegetables. Usually, 70 per cent of my crops would be destroyed by floods. Even if I doubled the price of my vegetable, I could not cover the loss.”
Then, there is the drought season, usually in July and August, he pointed out.
“During drought season, we don’t have enough water so we have to resort to the traditional way of getting water. What we normally do is wait for rain because we do not have the technology.
“Adult vegetables survived, but young vegetables would die during the dry season.”
He said he and others were now counting on the government’s approval of their application for land. Tang, who grew up with a farming background, said farming was tough but worth doing if one had the passion for it.
“Some go into farming to earn a living while some do it out of interest.” He learned farming when he was around seven. Today, it has become a lifestyle he shares with over 200 farmers in Sg Bidut.
“If you ask us to give up farming and do other things, we might have to think twice. It is not easy to change one’s lifestyle.”
Life as farmers has been made easier for farmers in Sg Bidut, thanks to the Agriculture Department.
According to Tang, officers from the department had been helpful to farmers.
“They visit us regularly to offer assistance, including application for funds to get fertilizers.”