Hendrian says prices of many vegetables have gone down by half.
CONSUMERS in Johor Baru are paying less for their greens now because of a surplus in the market.
Vegetable seller Hendrian Sapriadi attributed the drop in pricing to the bountiful harvest and less exports of Malaysian vegetables to Singapore.
“It is normal for consumers in Johor Baru to pay more when market demand for our vegetables goes up in the republic and less if it drops,” he said when met at Perling wet market in Taman Perling, Johor Baru.
He noted that frequent heavy rain in Johor in recent weeks did not have much impact on the supply of vegetables in the state.
“The prices of vegetables have gone down between 30% and 50%,” he added.
Leafy vegetables such as kangkung are now selling for RM9 per kg, from RM11 previously, while spinach is down from RM11 to RM8 per kg.
Hendrian said the price of kailan as well as Japanese mustard greens grown in farms in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, had also reduced by half.
Fresh red chillies are being sold for RM15 from RM18 per kg previously, tomatoes’ price dropped from RM7 to RM4.50 and a 7kg box of green birds’ eye chilli costs RM75 now. It was RM127 previously.
However, cheaper vegetables did not necessarily mean consumers were buying more, said vegetable seller Esther Muniandy.
“Other ingredients such as fish, onions, root vegetables, potatoes and dried chillies are costlier now,” she said.
Esther said her regular customers used to spend between RM70 and RM80 for a week’s supply of vegetables but had slashed their spending by half.
“They are reducing the amount of vegetables they buy these days,” she said, adding that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, she would fork out about RM1,000 buying vegetables for three days.
Nowadays, she buys them daily.
“I only buy vegetables that sell well, as leafy greens will wilt after a day,” she said.
Housewife Sabariah Ali said she would continue buying vegetables regardless of the price.
Federation of Vegetable Farmers Association president Lim Ser Kwee attributed the cheaper vegetable prices to favourable weather conditions.
“The weather has been kind to us in recent months and most farmers are experiencing a good harvest, which is likely to last until October,” he said.
The price of vegetables had also dropped because of surplus supplies at Selayang wholesale market in Batu Caves, Selangor.
Lim said the wholesalers were having problems selling their vegetables as demand had dropped, hence they had been sending the produce to other parts of the country, including to Johor.
