Ba'kelalan

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Ba'kelalan is a group of nine villages in the Bario Highlands of Sarawak about 3000 feet above sea level and 4km from the border with Indonesian Kalimantan. The villagers belong to the Lun Bawang tribe.[1]

The name Ba’Kelalan is derived from the Kelalan River and Ba’ which means wet lands in the Lun Bawang language. Its population is about 1500 but as many as 8000 call it home. In the cool mountain climate, temperate fruits such as apples, mandarin oranges and vanilla are grown.[2]

Ba'kelalan Airport has flights to Bario and to Lawas using 19-seater DHT aircraft.[3] Road access is possible via a 125km former logging trail from Lawas using four-wheel-drive vehicles, but the road conditions can be particularly bad in the rainy season and the journey can take up to six hours[4]

[edit] Apple farming

Apple farming has been developed in Ba'Kelalan since 1990 and the town is now the first in Malaysia to grow the fruit successfully on a commercial scale.

It was in 1975 when the first apple cuttings were brought from the highlands of East Java by a local boy, Andrew Balang Paran, but early planting faced problems and it was not until 1988 that the turning point was brought about, when help from two apple growers from Batu Malang in Indonesia brought the 300 dying apple trees back to health using pruning, fertilisers and chemicals. During the next two years 1000 more apple trees were grown, and in 1991 the first harvest was produced after an artificial "wintering" process in December 1990, when the leaves of the trees were removed.[5]

Now seven varieties of apple are grown, of which the first three have produced fruit:

  • the 'Ba Kelalan Apple' or Manalagi, a Washington hybrid first produced in Indonesia, light green but turning yellow when ripe
  • Rome Beauty, crunchy, sweet, sour tasting apple normally used for cooking
  • Tropical Beauty, a brilliant red oval apple, sweet but not as crunchy as Rome Beauty
  • Lady Williams
  • Epal Anna
  • Kwanglin
  • Jonathan

The 3ha orchard now has two thousand apple trees, and is run by 75-year old former pastor Tagal Paran, the elder brother of Andrew Balang Paran who brought the first cuttings to the village. The trees bear fruit twice a year, normally in the middle and the end of the year.[6]

The first Apple Fiesta in Malaysia was held in Ba'Kelalan from 29 to 31 Mar 2007.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ravichandran DJ Paul (5 Apr 2008). Sweet home, Ba'Kelalan. The Brunei Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  2. ^ Post Ba'Kelalan Expedition 2006 - report 3 (2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
  3. ^ Bakalalan, Malaysia - Air Travel All Popular Cities. Fare Compare First. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  4. ^ Lawas. Wikitravel. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  5. ^ a b Philip Kiew (29 Apr 2007). Ba Kelalan — apple of Sarawakian eyes. Borneo Post Online. Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
  6. ^ In sync with apple cultivation. The Star Online (14 May 2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-16.

Coordinates: 3°59′44″N, 115°37′21″E

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