Soon to soar: A woman picking out vegetables to buy at the Tanjung Rambutan wet market in Ipoh. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star
IPOH: The prices of several types of vegetables from Cameron Highlands are expected to soar by as much as 40% in the next few weeks due to the monsoon season affecting crop production.
Cameron Highlands Malay Farmers Association president Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Abdul Rashid said it had been raining heavily daily in the afternoons.
Vegetables such as cabbage, tomatoes, coriander, and other leafy vegetables would be badly affected, he added.
“The crops, especially the leafy vegetables, would not be of good quality, and would be affected by diseases.
“Even vegetables planted under plastic covers would be affected. This is caused by a lack of sunlight and fungus,” he said when contacted yesterday.
As such, Syed Abdul Rahman said prices of vegetables were bound to increase.
“The weather is definitely going to cause shortages. And prices are expected to double.”
He said that the income of farmers was also going to be affected due to the high production cost and lower yield.
Open-air farms had been especially affected by the heavy rain, he added.
Cameron Highlands Agriculture Entrepreneurs Association chairman Tan Wei Wun said the weather had definitely affected the production of vegetables.
“It’s raining heavily every day in Cameron Highlands. Production is slowing down.
“This is an annual, year-end problem that farmers face,” he said, adding that a shortage of vegetables would be unavoidable.
“Vegetables are not controlled items. Other farming costs are also increasing due to rising prices of pesticides, fertilisers and chemicals, which are mostly imported on the higher end,” said Tan.
He lamented about rising costs, saying that farmers do not get subsidies for vegetable farming – unlike padi farmers, fishermen, and rubber and oil palm growers.
He added that certain farms or farmers might get some incentives from the Agriculture Department, but that this was not significant at all.
According to Tan, consumers would have to pay market prices when crops are affected by weather changes or diseases.
Such price increases during certain months of the year, especially during year end, had been happening for ages, he said.
“Until and unless the government helps in providing aid and attractive subsidies, there is bound to be price fluctuations,” he added.
National Fishermen’s Association president Abdul Hamid Bahari said many of them would not be able to go out to sea due to bad weather starting next week.
Fishermen especially in the east coast would be affected the most by heavy rain and strong winds.
“The weather forecast in several states, including Perak, is not very good, so it will be risky for fishermen to go out to sea,” he added.
Abdul Hamid said there is going to be a shortage of fish, crabs, squid, and prawns.
“Prices are also expected to increase by between 20% and 30%,” he added.
He said prices of ikan kembong (mackerel), bawal (promfret) and jenahak (snapper), which are among the highly sought fish, are expected to go up.
“However, consumers have a choice of purchasing frozen seafood,” he added.
Abdul Hamid said the situation all depended on the weather forecast, adding that he was expecting the weather to be back to normal by January.
