Kampung gusai: Living deep in the interior of Pahang in Kampung Gusai, located on the banks of Sungai Tembeling in Ulu Tembeling, more than 100 kilometres from Jerantut, Muhammad Aiman Uyob and his father Uyob Ahmad have proven their remote location is no barrier to success.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, armed with little more than a smartphone, an Internet connection, and determination, the father-and-son duo is generating a good income by cultivating cucumbers using the fertigation technique, which Muhammad Aiman, 27, learned through video calls with a friend who was already practising the method. Fertigation is the practice of delivering fertilisers to crops through irrigation water, combining irrigation and nutrition in a single, efficient system.

Since venturing into growing old cucumbers (or timun tua) earlier this year, the pair harvested 14,000 kilogrammes from their first crop in February, earning about RM40,000. Speaking to Bernama, Muhammad Aiman said they learned every aspect of fertigation farming from the video calls, as well as online resources, despite having to contend with an unstable Internet connection in their kampung.

Muhammad Aiman said he left for Kuala Lumpur in his early 20s to work in a factory, but soon realised city life was not for him. He returned to his village to help manage the family's banana smallholding, where he discovered the potential of farming. However, crop damage from wild animals became a persistent problem, prompting them to consider alternative crops like old cucumbers, which are easier to grow and harvest faster than bananas.

That decision marked the beginning of video calls between Muhammad Aiman and his father, and the friend who operated a fertigation farm in Pulau Mansok here. After gathering the information they needed, Muhammad Aiman travelled to Jerantut to buy polybags, fertilisers, and seeds before establishing their first plot of 2,000 polybags on a 0.761-hectare site beside their home.

Uyob said they selected old cucumbers due to strong market demand and attractive prices. Despite their success, transporting the perishable harvest remains a challenge. The cucumbers are first transported by boat to the Kampung Bantal jetty and then loaded onto a lorry for the journey to Jerantut and eventually to the Selayang wholesale market.

The father-and-son team's efforts caught the attention of the Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, who visited their fertigation project in May. The royal visit and the project's success have inspired Uyob to expand their operation by doubling the number of polybags and entering their third planting cycle.

The story of Uyob and Muhammad Aiman demonstrates that even in one of Pahang's most remote communities, perseverance, resourcefulness, and technology can overcome the challenges posed by distance and limited infrastructure. Where there is a will, there is always a way.