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Rich Farmer, Poor Farmer? Integrated Agriculture in Sapulut

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Most Asian parents want their children to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer, or land on other money-making careers. Farmer is rarely on the list, as they thought farmers earn very little. However, the global price hike of food in recent years shows that food is king and agriculture has a bright future. Furthermore, Sabah is not lack of fertile land.

Left: group photo with Dr. Richard Gunting (middle) at roundabout of Nabawan town. Right: his durian plantation in integrated agriculture farm

As a PhD holder in agriculture economy, Dr. Richard Gunting knows the economy of farming. He showed me a simple math that answers why many traditional farmers of Sabah are poor. For example, rubber plantation only generates RM4,800 of income per hectare every year. After deducting the cost such as labour and fertilizers, not much profit is left. Oil palm is RM17,000/hectare per year, decent but we can do much better.

A visit to an integrated silviculture farm in Sapulut. Left is Ms Wong from media and right is Virgil, the son of Dr. Richard

Let’s look at other crops. Cocoa is twice the income of oil palm. A hectare of durian such as Musang King and Black Thorn can bring you RM155,000 and RM300,000 of revenue per year respectively. Agarwood (gaharu) is also a high-value tree. The strategy is to maximise the value (income) for every hectare of land as well as maintaining the highest biodiversity via integrated agriculture, which creates multiple revenue streams that are more profitable than monocrop plantation.

Example of mixing trees in integrated agriculture. At the left is an agarwood (gaharu), a.k.a. Wood of God, its oil is worth like gold.

To inspire the locals to become ‘Rich Dads’ in farming practices, Dr. Richard is an advocate of integrated agriculture (or integrated silviculture), which can potentially generate 8 times more income than oil palm. Such farm is a mix of trees and other cash crops such as cocoa, durian, agarwood, pineapples, coffee, pandan, vanilla, cempedak, jackfruit, coconut, langsar, tarap and sago. On the other hand, small scale monoculture makes ‘Poor Dads’, the subsistence farmers.

Fruits from integrated agriculture are another income sources besides food crops and timbers.

Integrated agriculture is more friendly to the nature. A researcher, who has visited the farm of Dr. Richard, was impressed by the biodiversity there, which is 2 to 3 times more than a typical Sabah farm. The forested land has healthier soil and some crops need shade to grow well.

Sapulut River and the farm of MunorAulai Guesthouse. Note the river bank is protected by dense wood to prevent soil erosion and pollution.

Besides crops, you can raise poultry, livestock (e.g. goats, pigs) and fishes on idle land that is not suitable for planting (I’m thinking of stingless bee (kelulut) farming). At the moment, Dr. Richard’s farm has a few fish ponds for thousand of pelian (Malaysian mahseer or River Carp), jelawat (Hoven’s carp or sultan fish) and tilapia fishes ready to meet the good demand of market.

Left: land that’s not suitable for planting is converted to fish ponds. Right: Virgil showed us the fish pond at MunorAulai

Do you know that eight out of 10 poorest districts of Malaysia are in Sabah? Dr. Richard hopes the wide adoption of integrated agriculture will turn the poor farmers into rich farmers in least developed districts. If every farmers know this wealth building formula, they can ‘grow money on trees’. This model works well for native title land, which is usually 10 hectares in size or less. 70% of native land are idle. Imagine the benefits it’ll bring.

Left: thousand of Jelawat and tilapia fishes in the pond. Right: this village dog has been hunting for the fishes in the pond. Yes, dogs eat fishes, and Virgil caught her stealing fishes in a video.

MunorAulai Guesthouse

For the proof of concept on integrated agriculture, Dr. Richard allocates 10 hectares of land in Sapulot (or Sapulut) for this farming technique and build MunorAulai Guesthouse there for visitors to experience farmstay and witness the result of integrated agriculture. Integrated agriculture is supported by WWF and Sabah government. It’ll become a trend because its approaches are friendly to the environment and ecosystems.

MunorAulai Guesthouse can accommodate up to 25 people. 10 to 12 people is the ideal group size.

When Dr. Richard walked around his farm, a small and colourful Munor, a bird of omen, followed him around and chirping positive messages, so he named the place as MunorAulai (means it’s auspicious by Munor bird). MunorAulai is equipped with toilets, showers (water heater available), activity hall and a simple lounge. They have clean bedrooms (with fan and power point) to accommodate about 12 to 25 people.

Bedrooms of MunorAulai Guesthouse

You will feel exclusive at MunorAulai Guesthouse because it’s Murut customary to serve their guests with hearts. Murut is the third largest indigenous group of Sabah. Though Murut people are portrayed as the descendants of fearsome headhunters, they are the friendliest when come to hospitality.

Lounge and activity hall of MunorAulai Guesthouse

At MunorAulai Guesthouse, you will eat, drink, party and dance like a Murut. The following are my experience at MunorAulai. I felt like I was living in a traditional longhouse of Murut.

Misty farm of MunorAulai Guesthouse. It’s a nice place for a morning walk.

Drinking Party

Tapai, a home-brew Sabah wine made from rice or tapioca fermented in a jar, is the soul of Murut people. Tapai is prepared by the villagers in accordance to their strict customs abiding to all taboo belief being passed down through generations.

Murut has a special way of enjoying Tapai together during social occasions, and it’s an honour to be invited to this hundred-year-old merrymaking tradition. It’s really fun if you have this drinking party with a group of friends.

Tapai drinking challenge. Everyone takes turn to sip the wine from jar.

Tapai is served right from the fermentation jar. After unsealed, a marker and a bamboo straw are inserted into the jar. Everyone will take turn to sip tapai until the liquid level drops to the marking. You can take small bites of comfort food along.

Good tapai is sweet and sour, with a bit of bitter taste. Tapai is quite potent. Even after first or second round, it warms my body and I start to get high. Many guests love this unforgettable drinking marathon and bonding experience with their friends.

Cultural Show

A party isn’t a party without dance and music. The local youth and children will perform traditional Murut dance to welcome and entertain the guests. During my visit, my heart melts when I see two of the dancers are only 5 years old. They dress in traditional Murut costumes and dance gracefully under the gong music.

Children and youth Murut dancers of Sapolut

The highlight is the magunatip bamboo dance. Dancers follow the rhythm to place their feet between the clapping bamboo poles and get out before the poles close the gaps. The tempo of gong beating and clapping will go faster and faster, and dancers have to be agile to avoid their feet being trapped.

You can watch this video to see how funny I danced

Guests will be invited to try out the bamboo dance. After some drinking, I was leaping like a headless monkey and being clapped by bamboo again and again. Everyone laugh and we have a wonderful time. Goodness, it’s really a good exercise.

Food

Murut mean it when they welcome a visitor. To make sure the guests are well-fed, Murut host would cook the last chicken they have. They also would not eat before the guests are done with the meals first. I always have a happy full stomach at MunorAulai Guesthouse.

Deer meat and soup

To be honest, their cook never disappoints me. I sample a good variety of delicacies and Murut dishes. Some are fresh fruits and vegetables from their farm. I appreciate their home style cooking with balanced diet, simple and tasty, and in big quantity.

Kinurutuk, a sweet and smooth Murut dessert made with tapioca starch, coconut milk, brown sugar and sago

One of my favourite is the steamed pelian, the most delicious freshwater fish of Sabah. Its meat is sweet, tender and fatty, even the scales are edible. Pelian is similar to Empurau, the most expensive freshwater fish of Malaysia. I love their deer meats too.

Steamed pelian, one of the most tasty freshwater fishes. Even its scales are edible.

This is just the first stop of my journey in Sapulot. Sapulot was used to be the land of headhunters in the past. Headhunting is long gone, so now we can travel freely in Sapulot. I can’t wait to show you some beautiful places that were once a sacred ground. In fact, many tourists from USA and Europe have visited Sapulut for a raw Borneo experience.

About Sapulot (or Sapulut)

Sapulut is a small district of Sabah interior about 47 KM away from Nabawan town (217 KM away from Kota Kinabalu City. Accessible by paved road). Most of the population in Sapulot are Murut. Sapulot (or Sapulut) means “sticky” in Murut language because the Sapulut River takes longer time to clear when it turns murky after rain.

Location map of Sapulot and its surrounding

For a tour in Sapulut, you can contact Borneo Outback Tours Sdn Bhd (Licenses: Co. No. 846369-H / KPK / LN:9247) at:
Website: www.borneo.tours
Facebook: orou.sapulot
Instagram: @orousapulot
Phone: +60 19 2277077 (Whatsapp), +60 87 337 277
Address: A-7-2, Apollo Atrium, 89008 Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia

The tourism operations in Sapulot are managed by Orou Sapulot (means the Sun of Sapulot), a community based project to promote tourism and in sustainable manner.

Misty rainforest of Sapulut

Photos taken in Sapulut, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Stingless Bee (Kelulut) Farming in Sabah

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Today I want to introduce some sweethearts to you. These little honey make money and healthy food for you. They are stingless bees (or meliponines), the honeybees that don’t sting. Stingless bee is known as Kelulut in Malaysia and Tantadan (local Dusun name) in Sabah. Belonging to the family Apida, kelulut is closely related to honey bees, and they are also the honey producer and important pollinators in tropical and subtropical regions.

There are about 38 species of stingless bee (kelulut) found in Malaysia, but not all are honey producers

Stingless bees are very common in Sabah. If you have a garden or orchard, there is a 80% chance that you could spot a kelulut hive nearby. Usually they build their nests in hollow trunks, wall cavities, and even crevices in your house wall. Stingless bees are always found busy harvesting nectar in the countryside. If you sweat a lot, some of them would land on your skin to collect salt.

Wax tunnels of wild stingless bees on a tree. When I was a naughty kid, I used to pinch to seal the waxen tunnel of their entrance for fun.

Stingless bees are only 1 centimetre or less in body length. Their tiny size allows them to access small flowers. Though they produce honey in small quantity, kelulut honey is more nutritious and highly priced. It is a trend that more and more Sabah village house farms kelulut, as the kelulut honey is in good demand and can generate hundred to thousands dollars of side income easily every month.

Heterotrigona itama species of stingless bee (kelulut) is all black in color and suitable (and common) for beekeeping

Honey Bee Vs Kelulut. Which Honey is Better?

Honey produced by stingless bees has many names such as Meliponine honey, pot honey, sugarbag honey (in Australia), and kelulut honey (in Malaysia). In Malaysia, kelulut honey is acclaimed as a honey healthier than normal honey. The following are some comparisons of both honey:

1. Taste

As you know, honeybee honey is sweet. Kelulut honey is sourish sweet. Usually sweetness is the base taste, and it mixes with varied degree of sourness, and even bitterness, which is greatly depend on the flowers or fruit trees visited by kelulut. Stingless bees store their honey in honey pots which are made of cerumen, produced from the bee’s saliva mixed with pollen, plant resins and flowers, and this chemically affects the taste. Sometimes its honey has slight fruit flavour or herbal aroma.

These stingless bees are Geniotrigona thoracica species. They make very delicious honey.

2. Nectar and Viscosity

Kelulut honey is thinner than honey due to higher water content and more prone to spoiling. Many native plant have small flowers that only Meliponine can access to collect the nectar. Kelulut honey is also not as “heaty” as normal honey.

3. Quantity

Honey bees produce about 5 or more times honey than kelulut. In average, a honey bee hive creates 2.25 to 3.75 Kg of honey per month, whereas kelulut is only 0.5 to 2 Kg per month.

Stingless bee (kelulut) honey is more expensive than honeybee honey. Some call Kelulut honey the “Miracle Liquid” because of its medicinal value.

4. Price

In most cases, a standard grade honey costs less than RM90 per Kilogram. Kelulut honey is sold for RM120 to RM150 per Kg locally.

5. Nutrients

According to the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), stingless bee honey is twice as nutritious as ordinary honey. In a Scientific Reports published on 22 July 2020, the researchers found that up to 85% of their sugar is trehalulose, which is a rare and healthy sugar that is “friendly” for diabetes and doesn’t cause tooth decay.

Row of kelulut bee houses. Each log hosts a colony. You can have a few to 100 bee houses in a bee farm

6. Health Benefits

The main selling point of kelulut honey is its stronger health values from anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogen and anti-oxidant properties. It has a history of traditional indigenous in treating cough, fever, cuts and rashes. Some of the claims are proven by research, just to list a few below:

Locals believe having a tea spoon of kelulut honey twice a day can strengthen immune system, to prevent cold and flu.

Nest structure of kelulut. At the right are “honey pots” that store the honey

Beekeeping Method (Meliponiculture)

The rearing of stingless bee is known as meliponiculture. There are more than 38 species of stingless bees found in Malaysia, but only a few of them are suitable for beekeeping, for example, Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica are the most preferred species, followed by Lepidotrigona terminata and Tetragonula leviceps.

Kelulut bee farm is best built under shade with lot of flowers and fruit trees nearby. The bees can increase the yield of your crops too.

Generally kelulut is passive. To defend their home, they would attack invaders by biting, but it is more like ant bite and far less painful than honeybee sting. No bee protective suit is required for handling of kelulut. Stingless bees share similar food, behavior, and social structure with honey bees, so you can rear them like normal honey bees.

Stingless bee farm in Kota Belud (Pinolobu Village)

Beekeepers can house the kelulut colony in a bee house called Gelodok or transfer them to a wooden box. You can open the box periodically to harvest honey without doing too much damages to their nest. The old methods of using bamboos, flowerpots, or coconut shells as bee house would be less sustainable as beekeepers need to cut the container in half for collecting honey.

Stingless bee house with top cover makes honey harvesting easier and causes less damage to the nest

Commercial kelulut beekeeping is introduced in Malaysia in 2012. Now there are 750 to 1,000 bee farmers nationwide. Sarawak state produces the most kelulut honey, followed by Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.

Close-up of stingless bees (kelulut) and their nest

Beescaping

Bee houses are placed in shade to avoid excessive heat. Stingless bees have short flight ranges of about 500 metres (honey bees is 2 km). Therefore, for higher honey yield, the bee farm should be nearby the favourable food source of stingless bees, the following are some preferred host plant:

  • Flowers: air mata pengantin or Honolulu Creeper (Antigonon leptopus), Buttercup (Turnera subulata)
  • Fruit trees: rambutan, starfruit, passion fruit, coconut, durian
  • Acacias, rubber and other flowering forest trees

(Note: the choice of plant can affect the taste and colors of the honey)

Sipping kelulut honey as a fun activity

Small kelulut is vulnerable to attack and raid by bigger bees and hornets. A trick is to place some belacan (shrimp paste) near the bee hives to keep these predators away.

Got Honey, Got Money. A Profitable Business

Malaysia government has initiated the National Kelulut Honey Industry Development Plan 2020-2030 that aims to make the kelulut honey industry a new source of stable and sustainable income because kelulut beekeeping can generate good income quick without high capital and advanced skill as a start. You can get the kelulut nest from the wild or buy it from local open market (tamu). A new colony normally starts producing honey after three months.

Honolulu Creeper (Antigonon leptopus) flower is a good host plant for stingless bee farming

If you have RM1,500, you can start a small farm of three stingless bee colonies. Each kelulut nest produces about 0.33 to 2 Kg of honey monthly. In Sabah, beekeepers earn about RM60 per kg of kelulut honey, which is marketed for RM120 to RM140 per Kg in the shops after processing and packaging. You can build a bee farm of 50 to 1,000 bee colonies with a starting capital of between RM40,000 and RM50,000, that can bring you a monthly income of RM5,000 to RM30,000.

Gelodok bee house for Kelulut (stingless bees) at a village house

Currently, the total market volume of Malaysia’s kelulut honey industry is only RM33.6 million while the market potential is about RM67.2 million. According to data provided by the Agriculture Department in 2017, the total kelulut honey production in Malaysia stood at 134,244 kilograms. From what I heard, the demand for stingless bee honey is high and most go to local consumption. The needs for kelulut honey will grow when it becomes more popular.

Old-fashioned stingless bee houses in village

Besides, about 1,000 downstream products can be made from honey, propolis and pollen from kelulut nests. The ingredients can be used in health supplements, cosmetics, skincare, toothpaste, face cream, essential oil, hand cream, skin disorder ointments, lip salve, etc. These byproducts will increase the revenue generated from bee farms.

Box type of stingless bee houses (in Kiansom)

Training and Funding

Interested in starting a kelulut farm? The organisations below might be able to help you. Good luck!

Big entrance of stingless bee nest. Found in Gaya Island, off Kota Kinabalu city

1. Borneo Honeybee Centre

In Sabah, the State Agriculture Department and Koperasi Pembangunan Desa (KPD) provide advice and conduct courses for stingless bee farming. KPD opened the Borneo Honeybee Centre in Sikuati, Kudat (north of Sabah). The Borneo Honeybee Centre is a centre for collecting, processing and bottling of honey and also conducted the bees farming courses (for about RM350). This 8.5-acre complex has various facilities such as Honey Processing Factory, Bee Gallery, Honeybee Souvenir, Honeybee Café and guided tour for those who want to learn more about beekeeping.

Facebook: BORNEOHONEYBEECENTRE

Borneo Honeybee Centre in Kudat is a hub for collecting, processing and bottling of honey and also provides beekeeping courses

2. Akademi Kelulut Malaysia (AKM)

Located in Bangi, Selangor, this company provides beginner to advanced training on kelulut beekeeping and making of stingless bee products. They also publish some books on stingless bees.

Facebook: akademikelulutmalaysia
E-mail: akademikelulut@gmail.com
Phone: 011-1514 2620

Some courses by Akademi Kelulut Malaysia (AKM) on making of Kelulut products

3. Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi)

MARDI is a government agency established with the main objectives of generating and promoting new, appropriate and efficient technologies towards the advancement of the food, agriculture, food and agro-based industries.

Facebook: mardimalaysia
Website: mardi.gov.my
Twitter: mardimalaysia
Blog: blogmardi.wordpress.com

The potential market of kelulut honey is huge

4. Young Agropreneur Programme

Implemented by Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries’ (MAFI) in 2016, the Young Agropreneur Programme aims to encourage the involvement of youths (18 – 40 years old) in entrepreneurial activities in the agricultural sector’s value chain. If you are eligible, you can apply funding at: mafi.gov.my.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

DESA Cattle Dairy Farm and Milk of Sabah

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DESA is a household name in Sabah because most Sabahans grow up drinking milk from Desa Dairy Farm, which produces nearly one million liters of fresh milk annually. But Sabah people feel affection for Desa milk because of more reasons. You will know why if you visit Desa Dairy Farm in Mesilau, which is about 100 KM away from Kota Kinabalu City (KK). In fact, this farm has become a well-known tourist attraction. Throngs of tourists go there every day to enjoy the delicious dairy and beautiful scenery.


Pic: The fresh milk made in Sabah. They also produce goat milk.


Pic: meeting my “milk mother” in Desa Cattle Farm


It took me about 2 hours to reach Desa Dairy Farm in Mesilau by car. The green pasture with grazing cows at foothill of Mt. Kinabalu is a sight to behold. Doesn’t the place look like grassland of New Zealand? No wonder locals call it the New Zealand in Sabah. To see Mt. Kinabalu, you need to be there before 8:30am because the mountain will be covered by dense fog.


The scene is so breathtaking that many tourists taking selfie and photos. FYI, many photographers also come here to use Mt. Kinabalu as the background for wedding shots of their customers. Photo taking is free outside the fence. The photography permit fee is RM100 (≈US$27) for you to enter the farm for better camera angles. In case you worry that the cows will charge at people who wear red dress. No, they won’t. lol


Pic: the entrance of Desa Dairy Farm (ticket booth at the right). It is open to visitor who purchases a ticket.


Good Mooorning milk cows and welcome to the Moo-Moo Land of Sabah. The farm is 199 hectares in size and most cows are Holstein Friesian cows imported from New Zealand, the highest milk producers of all cattle breeds. It’s quite cool and windy here (about 20°C / 68°F) so you better put on a jacket or fleece to keep warm.


Cows are amazing. They are probably the best workers in the world. They turn grass into milk (and cut the grass). They don’t complain a lot. Instead, they ask for Mooooore.. But that’s why cow has no Mooney because people milk them dry. Ok, it’s a cow pun joke, such life sounds familiar though.


The cows were busy grazing and occasionally staring at tourists with “what you want?” expression. They were all pretty relaxing. I didn’t see any cowboy to look after them. Do these cows know when to clock-in at milking station?

Desa Building

For more things to do, the milk processing plant, milking station, office and shop of Desa is about half a KM from the entrance by gravel road.


Pic: welcome sign near Desa activity centre


Pic: There are many big and beautiful granite boulders in the farm. A lot of tourists like to climb up to take photos, so Desa has to put a warning sign “Climb at your Own Risk” next to almost every boulder.


Desa Dairy Farm is more famous than I think. The Desa activity centre was packed with visitors and most parking lots were occupied that day. I chit-chat with some tourists and found that many of them are from Peninsular Malaysia, and some of them are from Hong Kong.


Pic: milk processing plant (left) and shop (right) of Desa

The following are the activities you can do at Desa. Family and student groups would find the tour educational, and it’s important for younger generation to see and learn how food is made and processed.
Milking Process: 2:30pm – 4:30pm (Daily)
Raw Milk Processing: 10am – 3pm (Tue, Thu, Sun)
Calf Feeding: 9am – 4pm (daily)
Toilet is at left-hand side of the building (RM0.30 per entry).


Pic: Desa T-shirts

There is a souvenir kiosk in Desa building where you can buy T-shirt, postcards, fridge magnet, stickers, etc. with Desa branding.


Pic: funny postcards of Desa


Then a long queue caught my attention. It must be something good, I thought.


Seem like milk is not the only product being sold there, they have different snacks made of the freshest milk such as ice-cream, yogurt and pudding. I drove 100 KM to this place so it would be a shame if I didn’t try one of these dairy food.


Pic: enjoying Desa’s vanilla & chocolate ice-cream in cooling weather of Mesilau. Couldn’t be better!


Pic: Durian ice-cream

Their ice-cream and yogurt were sold out very fast. I wanted to go for second round and there was no more. 🙁


New! (Jul 2015): They have started selling fresh mozarella and ricotta cheese at food kiosk. You also can drop by viewing bay and cheese cellar room to see making of yogurt and cheese.


There is a view room for visitors to see milking process through a big window. Too bad I couldn’t wait a few more hours so I moved on.

Calf Pen / Barn

After seeing and eating something at Desa, probably you want to touch something as well. You can head to calf pen next to the main building.


This year is the year of goat, so it would be auspicious to touch goats. Note what the little lamb is doing (see photo above). The farm also rears saanen goats for their milk.


You can buy grass (RM1 per bunch) or milk (RM1.50 per bottle) to feed the calves. They really know how to milk the money of tourists lol.


Pic: tourists buying grass and milk. Please note the calf may not take your food when they are full, and there is no refund for that. Anyway, they all looked hungry during my visit.


Hold the grass tight while feeding. The calf is quite strong and would pull the grass out of your hand.


Pic: bottle-feeding the young dairy goat. Oh My Goat, it’s so cute.


Next I went to cow barn where I could see hundred of milk cows laying or standing under the roof. Tourists can only see them from a distance (I believe some curious tourists would squeeze their udders if they are allowed to touch the cows, haha). Milking a cow is not as easy as it looks. If you upset the cow, it would kick the milk bucket, and you.


A cow emits nearly 300 Litres (about 80 gallons) of methane a day, which is enough to power up an average size refrigerator for a day. No kidding, cows can turn grass into milk and also bio-fuel. The cows in photo above look dirty because it rained heavily the previous night.


Pic: a cow enjoys rubbing its body against rotating cow brush, which said to make cow healthier and happier thus better milk production.

Ticket & Contact Info

The following is more information of Desa Dairy Farm.

Visiting Hours: 8am – 5pm (Daily)
​Ticket Fee: RM5 (≈US$1.30) per Adult, RM4 (≈US$1.10) per Child / Student (Free if under 6 years old). Prices as of Jul 2015

Company: Desa Plus Sdn. Bhd.
Address (office): Level 3, West Wing, Wisma 2020, 18, Lorong Belia Karamunsing, 88991 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Website: www.desaplus.com
Facebook: Desa-Cattle-Dairy-Farm-Kundasang-Sabah
Tel: +60 88-889562

How to get there

Desa Dairy Farm is in Mesilau and about 100 KM away from KK. Though far, it’s quite accessible if you own / rent a car. There is no bus goes directly to Desa Dairy Farm. However, you can get a bus to Kundasang town, then hire a taxi to go to the farm (you may need to arrange with taxi driver for return trip), which is about 10 KM away from Kundasang.

GPS Coordinates: 6°00’59.0″N 116°35’28.9″E (see Location Map)


Pic: the road to Desa Dairy Farm


Pic: you will see a few direction signs of Desa next to the road in Mesilau


The road to Desa Dairy Farm is mostly on paved road, until you reach the last junction, which is the start of 2 KM gravel road to the farm. The road is not well-maintained but you still can get in easily using standard saloon car. Just drive slowly and carefully.


You may check out my photo album if you want to see more photos.

Photos taken in Mesilau, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Tenom Farmstay, healthier food and planet with Integrated Farming

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Some city kids are very afraid of chicken though they eat a lot of KFC. “Apple” is probably the first English word pupils learn but they have never seen an apple tree. Though our young generation is no longer required to get their hands dirty in the farm today, we must let them understand how agriculture works, as it’s the most important knowledge for survival of mankind. We can’t improve things that we don’t know.


Pic: Tenom farmstay with pineapples in front

Run by Tham’s brothers in Sapong, Tenom Farmstay is about 12 Kilometres away from Tenom town (Ladang Batu 10, Jalan Kemabong) of Sabah interior (see Location Map). It’s a 35-acre real farm that practices organic farming and open for people who want to experience authentic farm life. Besides, they also bring their guests to volunteer in local community projects and interact with the local people.


Pic: Neem tree outside the house. It is a natural mosquito repellent.

The Plantation

Different from other farms, Tenom Farmstay is an integrated farming with the concept of diversifying the crops / livestock and making them to complement one another. For example, the manure from animals can be recycled as fertilizer for the crops. The end result is the creation of multiple recurring income streams and more sustainable organic farming.


Pic: lime orchard produces 200 Kg of fruit monthly

The owner, Tham Yau Siong took us to tour around his farm, which is thriving with pineapples, tapioca, calamansi, banana and other crops. He supplies fruits and vegetables to market as far as Kota Kinabalu city and also gives some to his friends. (Note: many mosquitoes in orchard, do bring insect repellent)


Pic: Calamondin fruit (Limau Kasturi in Malay language)

Calamondin fruit is in good demand because its sweet and sour juice (locally known as Kik Cai Ping) is the favorite drink of Sabahans.


Pic: Aroid plant

What surprised me was – I found corpses flowers in his plantation. This flower (a.k.a. Samurai Flower) is a close relative to titan arum in Sumatra, a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. According to Alim from Sabah Parks. it is Amorphophallus lambii, a plant under the family Araceae. There are 5 species of such flower in Borneo. FYI, Amorphophallus means “misshapen penis” in Greek.


Pic: beautiful stem of Amorphophallus lambii

Samurai Flower takes many years to bloom and I was not in time for its flowering. Anyway, it is still worth taking a close look. Its trunk is actually part of its leaf structure. If you squeeze its soft stem, you can feel layers of leaves under its skin, what a peculiar plant. I never expect to see such natural wonder in a farm and there are 6 of them! Tham said someone told him that he could charge people entrance fee to see this flower.


We kept on walking and enter a mini “forest” on a slope. Tham keeps slope area of his farmland forested, for conservation and as a buffer zone to prevent soil erosion. Sometimes wildlife such as mouse deer and eagle forages here.


Pic: this giant tree is the highlight of this forest. It’s a softwood that called “包皮青” in Chinese (literally translated as Wrapped Green Skin). Please tell me if you know its identity.


This tree looks like a long-necked Sauropod dinosaur from a close distance. There are a few other beautiful tall trees too and Tham decides not to cut them down.


Pic: stand of 5-acre forest in the plantation

Shortly we came to an open space and walked among large area of banana and Sabah vege (Sayur Manis in Malay language) plantation, and also passed by a lush grassland, which is the food stock for his goats. Probably Tenom was used to be the floodplain of Padas River, so the soil is fertile, making Tenom one of the most important agricultural area in Sabah. Both lowland and highland crops seem to grow well in Tenom.


Pic: 7 acres of grasses for goat farming

Tenom is also famous for its pomelo, avocado and coffee. Unlike greedy farmers who always aim to maximize profit by using a lot of chemical fertilizers, Tham uses goat dung from his farm instead, it is more organic and save him 70% of money spent on fertilizer.


Pic: a super-tall papaya tree in the farm

He prioritizes the well-being of the environment and consumers over the money, which makes his integrated farm more sustainable. This reminds me of the 3P model (People, Planet and Profit). Tham proves that winning for People-Planet-Profit is attainable with mixed farming.

“Nothing is illegal if a hundred businessmen decide to do it.” Well what’ll go wrong if people are obsessed with money? Just look at the recent cases like the use of gutter oil and plasticizing agent in our food and drink. Feed your chicken with unwashed vegetables and they will turn blind in weeks. When fruit juice is not real juice, fat is not real fat (trans fat), food issues become a world crisis. We have been putting highly-processed or harmful food into our mouth. How many “real” food are there in the market? I think “Food Education” is more important than Sex Education now. Consumer is the key force to drive the change. We are no longer afford to say, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” It’s time to question how our food is made.


Pic: a high ground area with nice view of the farm, forest and mountain. A chalet will be built here.


Besides 8 acres of orchard and vegetable farm that provides fresh banana, Sabah Vege (Sayur Manis), pineapple, durian, mangosteen and various other crops, Tham also owns a 16-acre oil palm plantation.


These oil palm is mainly nourished by goat dung from Tham’s farm, which cut down the need for chemical fertilizer significantly. Moreover, he keeps a long vegetation zone between the river and his plantation, to prevent fertilizer causing pollution to the river. As a matter of fact, oil palm can be environmentally friendly if planted correctly.


Pic: Brian (Tham’s nephew) holding a big pumpkin from the farm

Tham says it is very satisfying if you cultivate your crops with heart, and everyone can enjoy your healthy food worry free. Looking at his happy face, I have no doubt he is a good man rich in economic and inner wealth. I know some farmers who don’t dare to eat their own crop due to heavy use of pesticides. I wouldn’t sleep well if I were them.


Pic: Tham Yau Kong (left) shows us the formula to cure cancer with the leaves and fruit of Guyabano.

Then we met his brother, Tham Yau Kong in the orchard, he is a no-nonsense but a very friendly and kind man. He travels to a lot more places in Sabah than I do. He has climbed Mt. Tambuyukon numerous times as if it’s in his backyard. He still works in tourism industry and comes back to this farm regularly.

Goat Farm

Next we checked out the fertilizer factory, no.. I meant the goat farm. You might think that Tham Yau Siong is a farmer since the beginning. Nope. He was a financial controller. When economy turned bad in late 90s, he returned to Tenom and started his farm in 2004. He saw the potential of goat farming. With 0 experience, he ventured into goat rearing in 2005 after he took a 1-week course conducted by Veterinary Department.


He started with 6 goats and now he has about 300 goats in his farm and even won the Successful Breeder Award (Sabah) in 2010. Most important of all, he finds meaning in his new business and really love his job. His success story is an inspiration to those who only want to stay in comfort zone.


Pic: Tham shares his secret recipe on goat’s diet. The mulberry leaves in the photo is a natural multi-vitamin for goat. Tham also feeds his goats with Jackfruit leaves that can de-worm and high-fibre oil palm leaves that keep their guts healthy. This eliminates the needs for chemical and synthetic nutrients injection.


In contrast to what I imagine, his goat feedlots are clean, well-ventilated and well-lit. It doesn’t smell bad at all. Hundred of goats started bleating like baby when they saw us approaching, so cute.


The goats are so adorable and look like smiling. In Sabah, about 85% of the lamb is imported (as frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand), so it is demand over supply hence a huge market. Tham stressed, “Everyone needs food and world population is growing, so food supply is getting scarce and becoming more and more expensive, so you won’t go wrong producing food.”


There are 3 types of goats in his farm, namely, Ferrel and Boar goats, and 3rd kind is a cross-breed of these two Australian breeds. It takes about 6 months for the goat to grow to the marketable size of 25 Kg. Each goat can be sold for RM1,000 in Brunei, quite a lucrative business as every goat costs less than RM300 to raise. The advantage of Sabah is that our livestock has no foot and mouth disease problem, so exporting them to other countries is easy.


Pic: Tham shows us how a healthy goat looks like. This goat seems pleased.


Male goat can mate 3 times in a minute. Though “fast” it is impressive. Most guys believe mutton is good for men. I even made fun of its big “sperm tank” in one of my blog lol.


Pic: the goat is so happy and playful, as if it sees its father.


Pic: a goat tried to eat my pant. Want to keep a goat as pet? Think twice.

Goat eats anything. “You better rear them behind the fence. If you let them wander around, they will eat plastic, cloth, rubbish and everything. Their meat will smell bad,” Tham smiled and said.


Pic: the by-product of goat farm, organic fertilizer

His goats produces 1,000 bags of goat dung per month. Each sack weighs 30 Kg, and Tham sells 200 bags for RM20 each every month, generating a side income of RM4,000. He uses the rest of the goat dung for his farm, saving him a ton of money. FYI, chemical fertilizer costs RM5 per 400g, which is far more pricey.

Farmstay

After a long walk, we were hungry and Tham prepared a yummy Kampung (village) lunch for us. We had some rice, pumpkin, Sabah vege and chicken. Somehow I felt the food tasted better when I knew that they were fresh from the farm.

The soy sauce chicken meat tastes really delicious. I think it’s the famous Maize Chicken of Tenom, another high-quality product by Tenom farmer. The chicken is fed with corn instead of cheap pellets, so its skin appears yellowish and the meat is sweet, springy and less fatty.


Pic: soy sauce chicken

Tenom Farmstay welcomes anyone who wants to experience farm life to stay there. They have been receiving many student groups, especially from UK. The youngsters will be kept busy doing real works. Instead of being a braggart in social media, they gain more pride by doing volunteer work to help the local community.


The farmstay has 6 rooms with fan and bunk beds, and able to host up to 30 people. The fee is RM60 per night (≈US$18.50) (normally it is a 2-Day-1-Night package). Tham joked, “the large quantity of fruits they can eat here is already worth more than that.”


Pic: the room of the farmstay


Pic: toilet and bathroom


Pic: BBQ area

If you are interested in Farmstay, you may contact TYK Adventure Tours for more info:
Name: Padas Farmstay or Tenom Agro Paradise Farmstay
Website: www.tykadventuretours.com
Address (office): Block E, Lot 38, 2nd Floor, Damai Plaza IV, Luyang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: (6088) 232821
E-mail: thamyaukong@gmail.com / b.oswanda@gmail.com

Below is the leaflet of the farmstay:

Brochure of Padas Farmstay, Tenom (Updated: Oct 2017)

To see more photos of Tenom Farmstay, you may browse my photo album.

Photos taken in Tenom, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo