Moving along pass the historical trail of Johor Lama, we were to follow the food trail when we reached this 50 acre fruit farm. What greeted us were rows of Rastafarian-looking cacti plants cultivated for the rich white or red flesh. Henry Goh was the friendly guide of Desaru Fruit Farm who was to take us on an educational (and delicious) tour of this agriculture-marvel.
Our first pit-stop, was to literally pop a Pulasan (a stubbly red fruit which is a variety of Rambutan) into our mouths and take the pit out. He demonstrated the art of wringing the Pulasan and squeezing the juicy white pip out, which didn’t seem hard to do at all.
Taking us through the vitamin and nutrient content of each of the variety, we had great insights to an exotic array of breadfruit, passionfruit, pomelo, lime, custard apple, roseapple (pink guava), guava, durian and a host of other primary produce.
The Desaru Fruit Farm is planted with many different types of tropical fruit trees such as the Sapodilla (Ciku) trees, a brown kiwi-like fruit that’s wonderfully sweet, soft and juicy, Cempedak (Artocarpus champeden) – a sweet, mild and juicy pulp that surrounds the peanut-like seeds in a thick layer between the husk and an inedible core, much like a jackfruit but with creamy like durian, Starfruit trees, Great Hog Plum and many other local favourites which are highly nutritious.
Desaru Fruit Farm is the recipient of a host of Ministry of Agriculture national level awards such as the Special Award MAHA, Agro-tourism category in 2006 and first runner-up in Farmer’s Day Best Farm contest in 2001.
The landscaping in the interior is like a small park with a koi pond and places where you can just sit and watch farmers working with their hands, plucking or pruning the trees.
At the end of the tour, Henry brought us to savour the fruit buffet, with a large selection of the harvest from the farm which we had just visited. There’s nothing like a refreshing drink to accompany the freshly cut fruits to complement the day.
At the souvenir shop located just at the end of the visit, visitors can find many Malaysian goods such as batik clothes, local handicraft and food products, including the farms products such as honey and the different types of fruits. You may call them at +607-822 8017 for more information on the visits.
