Twilight in Merbok
Some of you have never heard of Merbok or its whereabouts, let alone its thriving mangrove lining up the river bank. Well, for your information, it is in one of the remote corners of the Kedah vast coastal plains. For all you know, Merbok is far from the madding crowd, a place of tranquility amid plenty. Here village folks usually welcome unscheduled guests into their home without a fuss. That is one of the reasons why I chose to do my research there, to have a feel of Merbok atmosphere. It sounds like the title of my next novel. If it is, it will be probably my last. I have my respect for mangrove as it is one of the breeding grounds for microbes that helps form my favorite mineral, pyrite (FeS2). This mineral forms the basis of the development of acid sulfate soils of which I am an expert. Pardon me for being so passionate about this place.
You may now want to know the main reason why I chose to write something on Merbok this time around. It is because it has what I want for my research on soil acidity and its subsequent effects on rice production. I am now doing a research there so as to improve the infertility of an acid sulfate soil in its vicinity for rice cultivation. My intention is good that is to increase the area for rice production in the country. In so doing, I am helping the government to achieve the 86% self-sufficiency in rice that we are aiming for.
It was August 29, 2010, in the middle of the fasting month. As I was sitting in my room at the Park Avenue Hotel in downtown Sg Petani waiting for the sahur, I got an idea to write this piece for your reading pleasure. For all intents and purposes, I enjoy writing (paper or short article) and will do so whenever opportunity arises. In a hotel room in the company of no one, my mind went wild for a while. For whatever it means, a man my age should behave in the month of Ramadan. That I know. So what could I do? Writing is the best way out. It sure is!
I checked in at the hotel at 4 pm on the previous day after an hour taxi drive from the airport. Soon thereafter, I called Alias, the field assistant, to bring in Elisa, Roslan and the driver for a get together at the hotel. At the moment Elisa is conducting a research for her MS thesis in Merbok, while Roslan (a PhD student of mine) was there to help harvesting rice in the research plots. Breaking our fast together is a good practice, which is consistent with the spirit of 1 Malaysia concept that the government is right now promoting seriously. Alas, the Ramadan buffet at the hotel was fully booked that day. After scouting for a while to get a suitable eatery, we ended up booking for a table for five at the D’Jetty Restaurant, located on the bank of Merbok River. As this story would have it, this was a blessing in disguise.
Break fasting time in Merbok was 8 minutes after azan in Kuala Lumpur. So while waiting for the moment to eat, we focused our mind entirely on the sunset in Merbok under the cloudless sky. Slowly but surely the sun disappeared into the twilight zone at about 7.30 pm. We saw immediately the sky was changing to brilliant colors of dusky red-yellow (Plate 1). I tell you, it was such a beautiful site to watch. For me, being on Merbok River at twilight was a dream came true. I was so touched by it.
Plate 1. Twilight at Merbok River
My MAS flight to KLIA was rescheduled to 3.20 from 9.20 pm on August 29, 2010. So to be able to do some decent work in the field, I had to start early on that day. I told Alias to fetch me from the hotel at 7.30 am sharp so that I could be at the research site at 8 am. I got there on time. To my surprise, waiting at the research site and ready with equipment were Elisa’s father and mother, accompanied by 4 Bangladesh workers to give helping hands for the yield, tissue and soil samplings. For the latter, their presence was at no cost to my research budget. How wonderful. This was indeed something new. As a result of their help we only needed 2 days instead of the usual 1 week to finish the job. If this is emulated somewhere else, imagine the benefit it could bring to the scientific fraternity in the country. I have never heard of parent becoming interested with the research program of their kid, let alone help harvest the crop in the field plots. In the true spirit of parenthood, Elisa’s father and mother came in the aid of their daughter, either driven by love or out of curiosity.
To tell you the truth, our harvest of the first crop of rice was a bit late. It was later than usual. I noticed that all the surrounding farmers had harvested their crops (Plate 2). As such, insects started to attack our crop in droves. The reason for the late harvest was that we have had some problems during the sowing. The field plots were suffering from lack of water at that time. The seeds that we broadcast did not germinate on time. We had to pump the acid water from the drainage canal into the plots to keep the experiment going. Because of this the ripening period was somewhat delayed that affected the time of harvest.
Plate 2. Photograph showing the research plots; farmer’s field is on the right
By and large, the research went on as scheduled and the results were as expected (Plate 3). The growth of rice (variety MR 219) on the treated plots was significantly better than that of the control, and so was the yield. The exact yield is being estimated, while the effects of treatments on the chemical properties of the soil will be determined. My estimate is that we could at least triple the yield of about 2 tons/ha/season using farmer’s practice. It means that if the farmers in the area use our technique of ameliorating the soils before sowing, they can earn a decent living by cultivating rice on highly degraded acid sulfate soils, which are notoriously unproductive.
Plate 3. Rice growing in the research plots
For all intents and purposes, I have done my job as a Professor of Soil Science in the Faculty of Agriculture, UPM. I train the young minds needed for Malaysia to get things going and help farmers in the far-flung places, such as Merbok, increase their income. For these, I stand to gain point needed for the Hereafter, God willing.
Shamshuddin
