These blackened thumbs (and often times index fingers too) yield RM 30/kg on good days if I can sell direct to customers. Otherwise, it’s between RM 13-15 to wholesalers (organic rate). Other days, when the moon turns purple or to most wholesalers who don’t give a heck of your growing practice, it goes for RM 8.50/kg which is an affront to real farmers with a genuine heart for the environment.
Picking bird’s eye chili (chili padi) is truly a real pain. They have to be picked as part of a “maintenance” plan to keep the plant healthy, alive and growing. I spend 3-5 hours (in between, also doing other upkeep works in the vicinity of the chili plants; and yes, I do get bored in those 5 hours!) harvesting cili padi beginning at 8.30am, often times under the hot sun. I do this within a day, once a week in the absence of a full time worker. Every time, the harvest weighs anywhere between 800 gm – 1.7 kg (I can easily scale to 3-5 kg weekly but without workers, nothing works). I have no choice as infrequent picking affects the longevity of the plant.
I used to sell retail at my basement car park but often times not well received. I ended up feeding the chickens with it. To reduce wastage, I have no choice but to dispose them off to wholesalers, often at ludicrous price. I’m currently trying to supply to sambal makers or anyone who do use large quantities of them in home cooking. But how often does that happen?
At RM 30/kg, it’s a pretty good price, but looking at the effort it involves (it’s not uncommon that my nails break and that sometimes the heat gets into the exposed underside of the nails! Perhaps I’m doing it wrong…), I’m thinking twice.
It is through this experience:
– I appreciate the rationale behind “organic” price points and think twice before commenting on pricing concerns.
– I learn the importance of soil fertility to optimise yield given the allocated time for harvest.
– I understand why real natural farming continues to evade the younger generation. (no, not aquaponics, hydroponics and vertical farming!)
– I realise how setting a reasonable wage for farm hands is a challenge from various perspectives.
– I empathise with the difficulties of foreign workers.
– I began to see the importance of a systems-based thinking where farm revenue is spread across a few money-generating activities that calls for a true polyculture and biodiverse setup. Unless you’re a “chili farmer” who grows rows and rows of nothing but chilies for economies of scale; but then again, that’s not what I’m trying to achieve.
More importantly, I value the notion that success will be sweeter in the heat of difficulty.
