For 15 years, Azhar Rosazmi served the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM), spending most of his time at sea and away from his family.
His last posting was at the TLDM Air Base headquarters, but the long separations finally made him rethink his life.
My wife is a teacher, so it was hard for us to take leave together. I didn’t want to keep being away from my family, so I decided to retire,” said the 38-year-old father of three.
In 2019, using his pension savings, Azhar bought 0.8 hectares of land in Kampung Tanjung Aur, Bota Kiri.
That marked the start of his new journey, fertigation farming, with chilies as his first crop.
Early struggles and pandemic setbacks
But his plans quickly hit roadblocks. The Covid-19 pandemic sent chili prices crashing from RM13 to just RM4 per kilogram, wiping out much of his income.
Hoping to recover, Azhar switched to cucumbers, only to be hit by a storm a week after his first harvest. The bamboo trellises supporting his plants collapsed, leaving him frustrated.
“At that moment, I really felt like giving up,” he admitted.
Support and a turning point
According to Harian Metro, Azhar credits his wife for convincing him to keep going. Determined to rebuild, he replaced the bamboo trellises with stronger metal ones and upgraded his farm’s infrastructure.
The big break came in 2023 when he received a RM20,000 grant from the Perak Department of Agriculture under the Young Agropreneur program.
With the grant, I bought blue C-channel metal trellises, cocopeat, and fertilizers. The department also audited my farm for the myGAP certification and provided pesticides and vegetable baskets,” he said.
On top of that, the department supplied another RM10,000 worth of equipment, including water tanks, pumps, and 100 sacks of cocopeat.
This allowed him to expand his cucumber farming from 2,000 to 6,000 polybags.
Harvest success and expansion plans
Today, Azhar harvests between 300 to 400 kilograms of cucumbers every day.
By delivering the produce directly to markets in Sitiawan and Air Tawar, he earns RM1.60 per kilogram compared to just 60 cents through middlemen.
He has also invested in a tractor and an ATV to speed up work on the farm. In addition to cucumbers, he is now growing bitter gourd, long beans, French beans, and bottle gourds, which are almost ready for their first harvest.
Giving back through teaching
For Azhar, farming is more than just a livelihood. It creates job opportunities for locals and contributes to the nation’s food security.
This is my way of serving the nation again,” he said.
Today, Azhar also teaches at the Veterans Affairs Corporation (PERHEBAT), sharing his experience and skills with other ex-servicemen who want to start farming.
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