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Author: Hajah Rosita Hassan
My journey in farming started quite early, in fact when I was studying at the Science College in Jalan Muara, Agriculture Science was offered as one of the elective subjects. We were given the option to take either Art or Agriculture. Since I was quite hopeless with my artistic skills, I must have chosen Agriculture Science by default. Fast forward, the attraction to go to the oil and gas industry is quite significant. My family is based in the Belait district, where most of our family members worked in this industry. In fact, my late grandfather and late father both worked in the oil field, so it was not surprising that I followed their footsteps. And I’m grateful for the scholarship given by Brunei Shell where I had the opportunity to study Chemical Engineering in UK and become the first lady Drilling Engineer back then.
My fascination with high tech farming has led me to discover new hobbies that I shared with my husband. We made regular trips to Kuala Lumpur to attend training on how to plant figs via fertigation method. We were amazed how the greenhouse technology enabled the planting of these non-tropical fruits that we build a greenhouse in front of our house. The fascination grew further with the opportunity to introduce the AgroBiz programme, a collaboration between Shell LiveWire Brunei and IBTE Agriculture Campus to produce agropreneurs in padi production. With this programme, Brunei Shell have invested in developing new skills based on the use of modern farming techniques and machineries.
Setting up a farm and leading a simple life have been in my mind for quite some time and it sounded like
a good retirement plan. When the company announced an early retirement scheme, I thought the time
had come for me to consider farming seriously. My husband was not surprised by my decision but to the
rest of my family it came as a shock, but they were very supportive as always. I recall watching a
documentary on RTB showing how a local company developed and grew their business in goat farming,
and telling my husband, this is what we will do. Alhamdulillah in January 2023, with not much
experience in goat farming, we started Arja Farms.
My friends tend to ask the question, how is it like in farming. My honest answer, it is fun and
challenging at the same time and I have yet to taste the simple life of my dream. Every day is a learning
experience and dealing with goats which have interesting characters gives that extra kick. I love the
opportunity to work and meet new people and being able to give back to the community and nature. In
Arja Farms, we strive to practice sustainable and ethical farming. Every little step needs to be thought
through from how we conserve water through rainwater harvesting to making compost out of goat
excrete. I believe this is why I become a farmer.
About the Author
Hajah Rosita is an avid farmer with a deep interest in smart farming. After 28 years of successful career
in the oil and gas industry, she decided to resign to start goat farming in Rampayoh, Labi. She pursued
further studies as a PhD part-time student at Universiti Teknologi Brunei. Her research project is on
Climate Smart Agriculture Technology implementation in Brunei and focused on padi production.
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