A pilot project to plant chilli padi at Rh Eddy Jemat in Kemuyang area.
SIBU: A pilot project to plant chilli padi (bird’s eye chillies) using fertigation system is now underway in two locations at Nangka state constituency.
Assistant Minister of Education and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee said the project at Rumah Eddy Jemat (Kemuyang area) and Kampung Datu Baru here started last month.
Dr Annuar, who initiated the project, disclosed that the seedlings in 500 polybags were planted at each of the two places.
“The pilot project will run for three years and this year, we target to plant in 10 more locations in Nangka,” the Nangka assemblyman told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Dr Annuar, who is also Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health, said he opted for chilli padi as the cash crop currently fetches good market price, which in turn could give the longhouse folk a good source of income.
He noted that the chilli padi is a very hardy plant needing no netting, and the soil conditions here are suitable for growing such cash crop.
Given the good future for farming in his constituency, he wants his service centre to double up as a training centre for fertigation farming and encourages youths to take up farming as a career.