Farmer Ain Izzuddin Mohd Ghazali, 26, was once again stuck with his crop of freshly harvested watermelon, which could not be sold due to the movement control order (MCO).
He was in a similar predicament during the first MCO last year, when he could not sell more than six tonnes of his crops at a loss of RM9,000.
After getting positive feedback from social media users last year, Izzuddin, who lives in Pekan, Pahang, said he is now using social media to support his business.
He said after his post started circulating on Twitter, he received several offers to purchase his watermelons in order to donate them to orphanages, poor families, frontline staff, and even mosques.
“I had customers from Kuala Lumpur, Johor, and Pahang,” he said.
Most of the customers, he said, also encouraged him to keep his plantation through these difficult times.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, Izzuddin, who has three years of experience in agriculture, was confident in his ability to continue planting watermelons, referencing the success of his friends.
However, luck was not on the young man’s side, and he did not expect his sales to be affected again following the latest MCO.
“There were fewer people coming to buy my watermelons. Usually, I could still make RM200 to RM300 in the morning.
“But on that day, only one watermelon was sold for RM20. It was a villager who purchased it,” he said.
Since his fruits have not yet been sold, he could not predict his losses for the year.
Izzuddin said he had to increase his prices to RM2.50 per kg this time as his watermelons were of Grade A quality.
He added that he invested a lot of money for this second planting, including having to take up loans in addition to using up his savings due to flooding that drowned his crops.
Apart from that, beverage sellers are not buying watermelons from him as the MCO closed bazaars as well.
Inter-state travel restrictions meant he could not take his products to sell outside of Pahang either, while roadblocks in front of his shop in Kampung Ubai, Pekan, had also affected his sales.
Wholesalers purchase at discount
Izzuddin said some suppliers bought large amounts of the fruits in previous years, but this time they were hesitant to take risks because of the MCO.
“Although there are some buyers who will take the fruits, they (suppliers) usually ask for a cheaper price.
“As a result, we farmers do not get a return on investment for our crops,” he said.
Meanwhile, Izzuddin was approached by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) to help him sell his watermelons.
Fama wanted to buy the watermelons for a low price too, but Izzuddin had to decline the offer.
“How could we earn and pay back the workers if they (suppliers) buy at the price of 60 sen per kg?” he said.
Izzuddin, who cares for his mother in the village, said he currently takes other jobs in the village in addition to his farming business so he can have a more stable income.
Alternatives to watermelon usage
Meanwhile, the farmer said if the watermelons could not be sold, he would turn them into juice to sell or process them into cattle feed.
Izzuddin also helps other farmer friends by sharing sales if he finds large-scale customers.
“For instance, if anyone wants to buy a tonne of fruits, we divide it. I will give 500kg, and my friend will give 500kg,” he said.
As for the future, Izzuddin said he will clean his farm and plant other crops such as corn and pumpkin after the watermelons have been harvested and sold.
He will continue to make a living as a farmer and will be more cautious when planning his crops.
“Don’t give up, keep trying, Allah's test has its own wisdom behind it,” he said. - Mkini
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