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Biotechnology undergrad uses compostto improve harvest

While durian lovers abhor the sight of worms that spoil theflesh of the fruit, Choi Yu Nen, 22, uses worms to improve his harvest and thetaste of the fruits.

“Of course, the worms that destroy the fruit are different fromthe worms we use at the orchard.

 putting vermicompost in the soil.Unlike the worms that spoil the fruit (pic), African Night Crawlers used tomake the vermicompost are good for the trees.

“The flesh of our durians used to be quite hard and not verytasty.

“More than a year ago, I started using the African Night Crawlerworms to make vermicompost for the orchard and the quality of fruits thisseason has improved significantly.

“I guess you could say that these worms saved our orchard,” hesaid when met at his family’s 0.6ha Teluk Kumbar orchard yesterday.

The 22-year-old biotechnology degree holder said he learnt aboutvermiculture when interning at the Penang Botanic Gardens before graduating.

Vermiculture is a method of composting by breeding a species ofearthworms.

“Since I was a child growing up in the orchard, I have alwayshad a passion for agriculture.

“When I found out about vermiculture, I decided to experimentand see if I could do something positive for our orchard.

“I invested RM3,000 to import the worms from Thailand to producecompost for the durian trees and I’m really happy with the results,” he said.

Choi said his dream was to one day produce affordable organicfruits and vegetables commercially.

“I do sell my vermicompost on a small scale but ultimately mygoal is to produce organic fruits that are healthy and affordable.

“We also have a 0.4ha orchard in Sungai Batu and I hope to plantsome lime trees there while expanding my vermiculture operations.

“We now have mangosteen, langsat, papaya, banana, petai andpineapple at the orchard and I am using vermicompost for these plants too,” hesaid.

His mother S.E. Koay, 54, said the family does not sell thefruits commercially as the trees do not produce enough.

“If the vermicompost can produce a higher yield of qualityfruits, we will consider doing so.

“Visitors to our orchard are family friends. We usually justgive the fruits away,” she said, adding that the family did not use pesticidesin the orchard.