KUALA BERANG, Jan 3 — A group of participants for the honey lemon group planting project in Kampung Lubok Periuk lost more than RM20,000 after their crops were destroyed when their farms were flooded.

Project leader, Yahaya Abdullah said the eight-hectare farm tended by 25 residents in the village had been flooded under more than one metre of water since Saturday.

"Our lemon fruits have been destroyed...most of the fruits were nearly ripe and had dropped to the ground and turned bad as the river water had spilled over into the farm.

"The fruits should have been harvested about two to three weeks ago...there were already buyers for these fruits actually,” he said when approached by Bernama, here today.

Yahaya, who has a one-hectare plot, said most of the participants of the lemon group farming project were single mothers and residents who depended totally on the revenue earned from the sale of the lemon fruits.

"We started the project seven years ago but the revenue only began to come in four years ago upon maturity of the crops.

"But, the floods destroy our crops almost every year...pity the participants who only depend on the revenue derived from the sale of the fruits,” said Yahaya who lost more than RM3,000.

Another project participant, Abas Abdul Rahman, 58, said despite being tested by the floods and having to move from place to place following the crop destruction, he regarded the challenge as a test.

He said the same problem occurred two years ago when the fruits were about to ripen but were destroyed when the farms were flooded.

"At that time there was a bounty crop...we suffered considerable losses because our trees produced about 50 kilograms each...but this year, each tree yielded only 20 kilograms.

"Of course we depend on the revenue from the sale of the lemon fruits...life will be a bit difficult after this, but it’s alright, there will be other forms of sustenance from Allah,” said Abas who has a plot of 0.40 hectares.

He said the lemon fruits were sold to the wholesalers at RM4 per kilogram and sold in the market at between RM6 to RM8 per kilogram. — Bernama