Gifted Nature and Respectful Agriculture

Cameron Highland is one of the luckiest towns as it has cool weather supporting agriculture at all times. Their main crop is Strawberry, both for local business and tourist attraction.

Strawberries in Cameron Highland are not a seasonal food because they can grow every time within a year. As it needs the temperature between 60°F and 80°F/15°C and 26°C, its local weather is always well supported as I mentioned in “Gifted Nature”.

I found that the way of cropping is also different from what I have seen before. They built wooden structures including two or three shelves and planted Strawberries row by row which makes a setting of well-prepared landscaping. Some grow in the hanging earthen pots, and most of them grow in the coconut husks wrapped with thick plastic on the wooden shelves rather than planted directly on the ground.

The shelves create spaces for more plants within a small area. Although Strawberry is a small plant considered like a shrub, we can get shade like a tree while they are planted together on shelves like this.  

They use the dripping system to distribute water twice a day by placing small conduit pipes inside the plastic along with strawberry plants.

After blossoming pure white flowers, it bears their fruits need and tidy. The contrasts of white, green and bright red of Strawberries make the garden stunning. 

 

You can pick them as many as you can enter into the garden by paying small charges. It’s about 40 to 60 Ringgits for one kilogram. I found that this business is the most attractive for tourists. Many local cultivators grow Strawberry farms as their business but they never export them to other places even to Kuala Lumpur, the nearest and the capital city of Malaysia.

 I was just surprised when I heard it. I felt like they don’t have rapacity. And, I confess that I felt frustrated with their mindset as I expected every business deserve to achieve more income. The weather and nature also support very well to fructify Strawberries all the time. ။

Why don’t they want to sell more?

I asked local farmers and they replied that the tourist attraction with their Strawberries has already made intensive income without exporting to different places. And even if they sold them, the visitors would not be able to pick the fruits.

That makes sense!

Interestingly, I found other facts as well. Even though they don’t export fresh Strawberries, they sell several products made with Strawberries, such as Jam and Chocolate as their trait mark.

Now I agree that not greedy attitude also can make more income.

Cameron Highland seems to attract people with its cool weather and breathtaking natural landscape. In fact, it has another secret way to welcome visits as well, and it’s none other than agriculture. They let people touch plants, fruits and even nature by creating several ways of cultivating and selling their products confidently. 

I have never thought before that cultivating can create a tourist attraction. 

Furthermore, I wonder about this region because not only plants which can grow in cool weather but also some different species that need hot and humid weather are found. That’s because of soil conditions and supportive sunlight. They are really gifted by nature and also, they use it precisely. 

Please make sure that our environment is not destroyed by our actions.

-May Thoon Khit-