Kundasang; more than just cabbages
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| Azridin Sulimat |
KUNDASANG:
This highland district is well known for its highland vegetable
production and is synonymous with cabbages and the Cabbage Festival.
The recent
festival is a gathering of farmers to showcase their produce and
compete in product contest, a traditional meeting to promote rapport
and friendship among revellers as well as promoting tourism in that
area.
Event
Organisor Secretary Azridin Sulimat said there is more to the
Cabbage Festival than meet the eye.
“There
are many facets of the festival that are useful to the community as a
whole such as attracting visitors to the area, ensuring that a
positive image is projected through cultural and sporting activities
as well as long term promotion for Kundasang.”
He said
Mount Kinabalu is a definite plus for tourism in that area being one
of the most well known tourism attraction in Malaysia, and coupled
with Kundasang's identity as a balmy mountain township with scenic
villages, that area is a tourist haven.
“The
other identity of Kundasang is of course as the main producer of
highland vegetables, cabbage being one of the more famous produce,”
he stressed.
It is
however not going to merely stand and bank on its vegetables, the
community there is looking forward to self-sustaining production with
better ways to produce nutritious, chemical free vegetables.
Young
innovators are now in the process of thinking out of the box and this
area may soon be known for something more interesting as well as
advantageous.
One of the
innovation is composting of vegetable discards and waste, by Mohd Al
Hafiz Sovestor , 21.
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| Mohd Al Hafiz |
“My
innovation concerns the vegetables discards and waste in Kundasang.
There are a lot of such wastage and I have came up with the idea to
make compost with it. My idea is to collect them all which in the
long run will ensure waste management,” he shared.
“Besides
managing the waste in this area, composting will lessen our
dependence on chemical based fertilisers. We will not only have good
fresh healthy vegetables but also a cleaner environment.”
According
to him, he had already started his composting project and used his
fertiliser on his vegetable patch in Kg Kauluan Ranau. The result is
very satisfactory he said adding that he is confident the fertiliser
will catch on in future.
“In
future, consumers will no longer be skeptical about the nutritious
value of Kundasang Highland vegetables, as we will use organic
fertilisers,” he said.
He hoped to
collect wastes in and around Kundasang and process them into
fertilisers with the objective of supplying all farmers in there with
good organic fertiliser.
Another
innovation is by Leef Anwar Malandi also from Kg Kauluan. He is
planting Yacon, which areactually tubers that look like fat squat
tapioca. They are eaten raw like chestnuts, but have a slightly
unpleasant after taste. But these are not what they are for, they are
actually made into juice.
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| Leef Anwar Malandi |
Leef said
he got the technology during a sojourn in Cameron Highlands. He
brought the Yacon to Kundasang and planted them in two acres of land.
He began to experiment with the tuber, squeezing the juice out of it.
The result
is a very sweet syrup which can be used as sweetener to hot drinks or
even spread on bread.
The best
part of this Yacon syrup is its health benefit, shared Leef, Yacon
can regulate blood sugar levels, lower “bad” cholesterol,
help with weight loss and lower blood pressure.
“I plan
to plant more of this plants and produce Yacon syrup. This way we can
diversify the products of Kundasang,” he said, adding that he will
look into packaging and marketing the product soon.
Azridin
said there are five innovations that have been shortlisted for the
final contest in West Malaysia. He expressed his hopes that
Kundasang's innovators will go through with flying colours.-AG
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