Visiting Jathropha Farm at Ebung...

11th Sept 2008 - Around 10am, my colleagues invited me to join them to visit a Jathropha seedling farm at Ebung, somewhere in the middle of Link Road (ByPass Road towards Mile 14 from Kuching town). So...i use that as my alibi to escape from my office. Jathropa (or pokok Jarak in Malays) are going to be the "in-thing" for the time to come, at least here in Sarawak state. State government through various agency were publicizing and promoting this Jathropha as the next cash crop, alongside palm oil, rubber, pepper and cocoa.



...Jathropha farm with high-pass image editing...


..seedling base .when we arrive, this man from Mongkos is buying a quantity of seedlings for his own farm..

..Jathropha fruit..roughly the size of ping-pong ball..turn yellow when ripe and ready to be pluck



..seedling plot under shade...


..preparing the container to be fill with compost..

..

..inserting the Jathropha seeds

..closer view of dried Jathropha seeds...


..months old Jathropha plant..

...dried Jathropha seeds..ready for re germinate..selling at RM600 (US$170) per kilogram


..seedling shade..

..view of Jathropha farm...

..Jatropha favor a dry and well drained soil..



...

..the new plot of Jathropha plant...


.. view of another plot of Jatropha plants...barely few months old


recommended planting distance, 7 feet..and in this case small plant were line in between.
Detail on Jathropha plant, features and futures of it will be updated later.

Read more on this article...

Kapit Trip-Day 02-Sibu to Kapit to Mujong, Middle Baleh

Second Day , from Sibu town to Kapit bazzar to Mujong, Middle Baleh
Wake up as early as 530am, have a quick breakfast then by 7am, me and my cousin were already at Boat Terminal, Sibu. All scheduled express boat ride going upriver (Belaga, Kapit and Baleh) were stationed here.




Sibu express boat terminal.


..outside view from a fast moving express boat..don't ever think of falling out...



..then the express boat making its stop at Song, a small town between Sibu and Kapit, where some passengers disembark and some cargo were uploaded unto smaller boat...me and my cousin check it out..




..arrived at Kapit...three hours later





..having another meal in Kapit...wet-style fried mee


..and while having our meal this local folk with a tattoo on his neck and lower jaw joins us...an ex police... the correct timing ensure my trademark (number ten) were included in this photo..hehee


...folks selling brassware and gong....


..Brown for sale...RM500.00 (roughly US$ 140/-)


..view of Rajang river from jetty..


...half sunken wooden boat..


..then roughly around 130pm, the long wooden boat from my cousin's school depart from Kapit with a number of other staffs....outboat engine with a horsepower of 40 propels us through the mighty Rajang river


..a smaller boat zipping through...


..also another boat...

...logging camp..


..express boat making its stop at one of the logging base camp..



..coal mine..


...ship with logs...loaded to the brim...


...intersection of Rajang (going straight) and Baleh river (turn right)...


..a lonely church..


...ship with logs...loaded to the brim...



...the small boat does make your field of view becomes smaller..you cannot turn around too much..


..one of the longhouse near the bank of Baleh river..





..and now from Baleh river, we turn into smaller Mujong river..


..this bridge (according to my cousin) is part of land road network to Kapit..


..underside view of the bridge..


..another longhouse at Mujong river..



..another longhouse at Mujong river..nice blue sky


..another longhouse at Mujong river..


..as we move upriver, the width of the river become smaller...


..then after two and half hours of longboat journey, we make our stop at this floating grocery shop...


..our longboat..resting while relieving our stressed legs....


...an old plate, hang on the wall of the floating grocery shop to ward off evil spirit..


..another longhouse on our way to my cousin's school...





..then after three's hours of longboat journey, out of sudden, this scene will awaits you...the sight of four-stories building in the middle of nowhere..





..unloading...a lot of stock to make sure you're self-sustained in this shopless environment..


..this image will always inspire me, the sight of seeing this children waiting patiently for their teacher to come ( this is the start of new semester term, so these children were so happy to see their teacher again).....







..view of longboats...



..welcome drink during the night...

Read more on this article...