Melon farming in Malaysia – Pasir Panjang, Port Dickson
I grew up with fond memories of watermelons and honeydews being enjoyed amongst family and friends, served as a dessert at the end of a meal, or on some occasions served alongside meat dishes to give a refreshing twist. Although melons are ubiquitous in Asia, most of us are oblivious to their origins, how they are grown and eventually harvested.
This was the reason I was armed with a full thermos in my left hand and its cap filled with aromatic steaming hot coffee in my right, as I stood relaxed and awestruck, soaking in the majestic sight that lay before me. 30 acres of misty melon fields in Pasir Panjang, Port Dickson, spotted with oil palm trees as far as the eye can see, were mixed with the musky smell of moist soil.
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The sun rays gently played over the fields, conjuring the most brilliant of mosaics, glistening like diamonds as they reflected off the fresh morning dew gradually transforming them into fields of gold. I was joined shortly after by Mr Chan Man Seng, a 50-year veteran in the agriculture industry and my melon farming tour guide cum lecturer for the day.
He would be the key to unravelling the enigma surrounding the lives of the melon farm’s unsung heroes. With sweat on their backs, these melon farmers plow the fields with their bounty in their arms and their families in their hearts.
Here’s the story of melon farming in Malaysia.
1. The manual pollination process – this ain’t heavy, it’s with my mother
Rizah and her daughter Shila carrying out their daily routine of pollination
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“Simple! It’s like two teenagers with raging hormones mating,” laughed Chan with a mischievous grin, in response to the lost look I wore on my face at the end of his minute-long lecture on the pollination process of watermelons. This is the crucial start of the melon farming process.
I, however, was mesmerised by Rizah and Shila, a mother-and-daughter duo going about their daily morning ritual which begins at approximately 7AM, concluding by 11AM at the latest failing which the flowers could wilt due to the warm morning sun.
Depending on the weather and number of workers, they are able to cover 100 acres on an average per day.
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They have worked the fields for the last 4 years, meticulously combing endless rows of creepers, picking and filling their baskets with male flowers, then tenderly peeling away the petals to reveal the stamen which would in turn be used to pollinate the pistil.
Rizah demonstrating how to peel away the petal of the flower
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How difficult could it be? I thought to myself as they handed me a male flower to experience for myself. As the Malay saying goes, it was like “bagai kera mendapat bunga”, which means giving an item to a person who is unable to appreciate it.
Despite being shown how to peel the petals off the flower in a beautiful sheet, I, however, to their utter despair and amusement, left the numerous flowers I was given in dismal pieces.
Natural pollination by bees
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Although the same process can be carried out naturally by bees, it would not yield a similar uniform effect. Despite working at melon farming alongside their buzzing friends, Rizah and Shila have never been stung before.
According to them, their most rewarding experience is to witness the full growth cycle of the watermelons from the pollination process right up to the harvest.
2. Waiting for the right time to harvest – patience is a virtue
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Having spent the morning in a vast ocean of melons, I failed to notice the tumultuous storm clouds rolling in from the coast quickly and developing into an overcast. “Have a seat,” said Chan as he cheekily handed me a muddy, empty 20-litre jerry can to balance my bum on and a bottle of water as the skies bared their souls in a merciless downpour.
“It will take a couple of hours because even when it stops raining, they can’t apply any chemicals. If they do, it would run off and the effect would be as good as applying water.” He patiently explained why we had to wait before we began harvesting melons between puffs, with a cigarette hanging loosely between his lips. I sat soaking in the “pitter patter” sound of water droplets that formed in the uneven ground which looked like the surface of the moon.
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A few bags of chips, and a short cat nap later, the downpour finally eased, leaving a warm humid breeze in its wake. “Time to harvest melons!” came the booming, coarse voice of Chan.
I scrambled off the now deformed jerry can I had been warming for the past few hours in fear of being left behind. “Relax, let the magic unfold before your very eyes. Take a deep breath, stay where you are and take it all in,” he said as he inhaled deeply on yet another cigarette with his eyes closed.
3. Watermelon harvesting – catching the beauty in the moment
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Thinking I missed the action, my heart sank as I watched 5 farm hands stroll off into the horizon, chatting animatedly whilst widening the gap between us. Moments later, a strange phenomenon began to occur.
Their manual watermelon harvesting looked like the frontlines of a formidable battalion marching into battle, as they formed an evenly spaced straight line, with the farm hand standing in the middle of the plot and the last at the edge of the planting line.
Loading of harvested watermelons onto a 10-tonne truck
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The first man bent down to harvest a huge watermelon from his left and swung it to his right. Each watermelon is then tossed down the formation till it reaches the last person, who would place it on the ground at the edge of the dusty road.
This melon farming process was then repeated as they swiftly swept through the selected watermelon plots, lining each side of the dusty road with long lines of watermelons, as I stood at the top of a hill, squinting through the zoom lens of my Nikon and watching the breathtaking events unfold before me.
Mr Ram is originally from Nepal and has been the farm manager for 8 years, with his 9-hour day beginning at 6.30AM. He takes intermittent breaks in between should a downpour occur.
His biggest fear is being scolded for the mistakes made by his workers or if they run away, resulting in him having to hire new ones and train them. According to him, the greatest danger of his job lurks in the risk of being trapped by a fallen truck or tractor.
The joyous harvesting process of melons
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Moments later, we heard the rasping and occasional misfire from an empty 10-tonne truck which had miraculously squeezed through the impossibly narrow path, barely missing the precious melons. It slowed to a crawl for two farm hands to climb aboard the back, leaving another two on each side of the path.
The two on the path started to continuously toss melons into the waiting arms of their comrades aboard the truck as it lumbered along the uneven muddy path like a weird-looking bug.
4. Moving around the farm via tractor – rattling like a rock concert
My view of the farm as I clung onto a tractor
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“When you’re done gawking at melons, climb aboard!” came Chan’s sonorous voice with a cheeky smirk on his face, as he hung off the side of the tractor he had somehow managed to commandeer, looking like Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean.
Clueless as to what I was getting myself into, I climbed aboard what looked like an over-laden death trap on wheels and clung on for dear life.
I struggled to stay on the tractor as the vibrations constantly attempted to rattle me off the mud guard which I had temporarily turned into my makeshift seat. At the same time, it felt as if I was in a rock concert with my head bobbing up and down in a head-banging motion looking like a dashboard bobblehead.
Who says you can’t attend an outdoor concert during a pandemic? I thought to myself, against the deafening background music from the sputtering engine.
5. Fertilizing and pest control – washing away the melons’ troubles
The application of chemicals to melon fields
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Melons are vulnerable to attack by fungal diseases such as powdery mildew and insects such as white flies and mites. If left untreated, this would result in a significant drop in melon farming crop yields.
However, these pests can be easily avoided with the proper application of an arsenal of fertilizers and chemicals once a week, with each application taking approximately 6 hours.
As I dismounted from the tractor and found shelter under a tree upwind, 3 farm hands armed with high pressure spray guns attached to tanks of chemicals towed by the tractor walked alongside conscientiously, spraying every inch of their assigned plot to protect the melons.
6. The monkey pickpocket – one of many daily wild animal encounters
A monkey enjoying a juicy watermelon it’d just nicked
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On our return journey, to our absolute amusement but to the immense horror of Ram, we had a brief encounter with a pickpocket who was oblivious to our presence. A monkey was too preoccupied enjoying the juicy watermelon it had nicked to notice us.
Although he comes face to face with animals such as wild boars and monkeys on a daily basis, he fears being bitten by a snake the most.
7. Pulling the truck out of mud – getting out of a sticky situation
Shyam in the 10-tonne truck that was helplessly stuck in mud
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On our journey back to the harvesting site, we passed the 10-tonne truck filled with watermelons. It had became stuck in the sticky and gooey mud whilst helplessly sinking.
“It happens pretty often,” said Shyam, a seasoned truck driver who has been ploughing the roads of Peninsular Malaysia for 5 years, day and night, rain or shine.
Shyam driving past after being rescued by the tractor
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“Sleepy motorists, tigers, elephants, I’ve seen them all. The scariest of the animals are the elephants, especially on the Gerik Highway. The only thing you can do is to wait patiently for them to pass. If you frighten them, they will attack you and your vehicle,” he described other obstacles in his driving job whilst stifling a yawn.
By this time, his truck had been set up with a tow line to a tractor which charged forward, gathering speed to pull him out of his sticky situation.
8. The honeydew polo match – the catch of the day
The harvesting of honeydews
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“Look! Look! Look! It’s a magnificent pass! Nice and high! He fires it and into the cage! Inspirational goal!” came Chan’s exciting commentary. My gaze traced his outstretched arm and beyond his wagging finger.
The scene looked like a melon polo match between 5 farm hands that was taking place at the other end of the field. Honeydews were being tossed single-handedly, and even 2 at a time till they reached the last person.
Loading of honeydews on top of watermelons after being harvested
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He would then stack them in neat piles as the team swept through the planting field. Given the uneven narrow and muddy paths which restrict access to picks and tractors, the melon polo match seems like an effective means of transporting fruit through the melon fields.
The harvested fruits would be collected by a tractor and loaded onto the 10-tonne truck on top of the watermelons to prevent them from being bruised.
9. The watermelon middleman – buying the fruits of farmers’ labour
The arrival and loading of watermelons into the middleman’s minivan
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As the sun began to dip, casting long shadows over the harvested melon fields, here came the late arrival of a watermelon middleman in a minivan. Under his watchful eyes, the watermelons were placed carefully into a crate rested upon a weighing scale and priced according to their weight and number of bruises.
This process takes place prior to being loaded into the back of the minivan, lined with a well-seasoned tarpaulin to cushion the fruits on their bouncy journey ahead.
Melon farming in Malaysia – an adventure to remember
Happiness comes from within
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Having embarked on this once-in-a-lifetime melon farming journey, participated in the tranquil reproduction of melons, and even attended a fun-filled melon-polo match, I have come to conclude, not only is happiness discovered in tranquillity and occupation, but it also comes from within.
Despite the long hours these individuals dedicate to the fields and the different challenges each role demands of them, one similar emotion they share is reflected in the smile on their faces at the end of the day – it was those moments that took my breath away.
Also check out:
- Kebun Kebun Bangsar: free family-friendly farm & garden
- Entopia – butterfly farm in Penang
- G2G Animal Garden: kampung-style petting zoo
Cover image adapted from: Ian Poh Jin Tze
View more of Ian’ s work on his website and Instagram.