Spiky issue: Consumers can expect to pay slightly more for pineapples starting July as farmers have been seeing a gradual drop in harvests in the past two years. – THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Consumers can expect to pay slightly more for pineapples starting next month as farmers have been seeing a gradual drop in harvests over the past two years.
Simpang Renggam pineapple farmer Lim Ser Kwee said the increase of 20 sen to 30 sen, depending on the type and grade of pineapples, would begin from July 1.
He said the matter had been decided in a recent meeting with more than 60 farmers and distributors in Simpang Renggam near Kluang.
According to him, Simpang Renggam supplies about 70% of the country’s pineapples, including to Perak and Penang, as well as Singapore.
“We decided to hold a discussion because in the past two years, pineapple production has dropped by about 30% while operational costs have shot up by about 40% due to expensive fertilisers, pesticides and workers’ wages,” he said.
In a notice sent out by a collective of Simpang Renggam pineapple farmers, it was stated that Josa pineapples would see an increase of 30 sen each for Grades A, B and C fruits, and 20 sen each for Grade D and E fruits. There will also be an increase of 30 sen each for Grades A and B of Morris pineapples while Grade C fruits will see an increase of 20 sen each.
“The current scorching weather has further affected the fruit harvest and added on to the costs, with the farmers having to put ‘hats’ on the crops to shield them from direct sunlight,” said Lim.
A huge chunk of the pineapples had to also be regularly discarded as the heat caused holes to form in the fruit, making them unsuitable for consumption, he said.
“The farmers will then have to replant the fruits, which takes about a year to harvest,” he said in an interview with The Star.
Lim, who is also Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations president, said other issues affecting the farmers were theft as well as feeding by wild animals such as boars and monkeys.
Pineapple farmers, he said, hoped that consumers would understand the reason behind the price increase as it was necessary to cover their costs.
“The slight increase is still not enough to help balance out our operating costs but we do not want to burden the consumer too much at the same time,” he said.
