TUMPAT NONI JUICE PRODUCER KEEN ON MIDEAST FOOTING

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- Tumpat Economic Development Cooperative Bhd has
a plan -- to plant up to one million noni trees (morinda citrifolia) in Tumpat
district in east coast Kelantan-state by the year 2010.

It has every reason to do so as it seeks to widen its market for noni juice
it manufactures to Middle East countries.

"Besides the domestic market, we're currently exporting 10,000 bottles of
noni juice to Korea. And now we're looking at the Middle East region,"
cooperative chairman Ramli Yunus told Bernama on the sidelines of an exposition
on halal products and services in Abu Dhabi recently.

He was encouraged by the response to its noni juice product, marketed under
the label "2Park Noni", having received enquiries from countries like Lebanon,
Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

"This is our first attempt to penetrate the Middle East market," Ramli
said, adding that the cooperative would have to finetune its strategies to
strike a balance between supply and demand.

According to Ramli, he started the noni venture about three years ago after
10 years of research.

He said there were currently between 400,000 and 500,000 noni trees in
Tumpat, a district which he described as having some catching up to do in terms
of improving people's livelihoods.

The initiative involves about 1,800 planters who make use of idle land as
well as their own compounds to plant the trees.

"So it's good for the kampung folk. It has been my intention to help them
increase their income," he said.

Ramli said noni trees also provided an alternative to tobacco.

Studies have shown that noni, known as "mengkudu" in the Malay archipelago,
has positive effects on diseases like diabetes, asthma, gout, gynaecological
problems, migraine, kidney problems and high blood pressure.

-- BERNAMA