By YENG AI CHUN

BUTTERWORTH: Civil engineer Mohamed Ansar Derani, 25, resigned from his well-paying job at an engineering firm to plant Cavendish bananas in Ara Kuda in Tasik Gelugor here.

He and four others are pioneers in the country's first franchising project to grow bananas on a 10ha piece of land over five years. 

“I believe this venture will provide me with a more secure future. My parents did not agree at first but they are slowly warming up to the idea,” said Mohamed Ansar.

The franchiser, Synergy Farm (M) Sdn Bhd, will give banana saplings to the five and help them farm and market the produce.

Synergy Farm franchisees (from right) Azrin Karim, Nor Adnin Mat Nayan, Mohd Fahrul, Mohd Ansar and Saiful Nizar Hasbollah with the Cavendish bananas at the farm in Tasik Gelugor on Thursday.
The quintet has invested RM500,000 each and expects to make a gross profit of RM610,000 per person over five years. 

After the end of the five-year contract, they can choose to continue with the franchise or venture out on their own.

Another pioneer, Universiti Malaya Social Science graduate Mohd Fahrul Roze Abu Bakar, 26, gave the agriculture sector a try as his family was also involved in this sector. 

“My father rears cows back in our kampung in Rengit, Batu Pahat and I do have an interest in farming,” he said. 

He added that the first batch of franchisees went through a six-month course on farming. They are currently in the midst of clearing their plot of land. 

Synergy Farm executive chairman Datuk Dr Zainuddin Wazir said under the five-year contract, the franchisees were given the land for their venture. 

Dr Zainuddin said Synergy Farm has set a target of 100 franchisees for this year. 

He hopes to start exporting the Cavendish bananas in two years. 

“At the moment, Synergy Farm does not even produce enough bananas to meet local demand.” 

Each franchisee received a loan of RM472,000 from Perbadanan Nasional Berhad under its Youth Franchise Scheme established last year. 

Entrepreneurial and Co-operative Development Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, who handed over the loans to the five yesterday, said franchisees need not worry about marketing and selling the produce as the franchiser had agreed to buy the produce from them. 

On another issue, commenting on the lifting of the ban on new foreign hypermarkets setting up shop in the country, Khaled said the ministry would need to come up with a strategy to protect local retailers. 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/8/nation/17965014&sec=nation