Damage done: Since last week, continuous heavy rain has flooded over 16ha of vegetable gardens and farms in Tangkak. — Photo courtesy of Tan Chee Kiong
Expect to pay between 30% and 40% more during this period, says association
PETALING JAYA: Prices of certain vegetables have gone up by 30% to 40% of late, no thanks to the gloomy weather.
Citing the example of lettuce, Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association president Wong Keng Fatt said it was priced at RM3 per kg on Thursday but doubled to RM6 over the weekend.“The inclement weather has generally pushed the prices of leafy vegetables up by 30% to 40%,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Furthermore, he said the bad weather had adversely affected tomato yields due to a lack of sunshine.
This has pushed its price from RM2 to RM4 per kg due to limited harvest in Cameron Highlands.
However, Wong said that imported vegetables are priced lower in view of its abundant harvest, citing for instance, broccoli had seen a reduction from RM6 to RM7 per kilogram to RM4 to RM5.
“The price of cauliflower has seen a similar drop,” he said.
Wong said that Malaysian farmers had ramped up their production to ensure steady supply during this period.
“We haven’t encountered a shortage in the domestic supply of vegetables,” he added.
Vegetable importer Lee Chee Keong said the import of greens would be adjusted in accordance to any domestic shortages.
This is to guarantee a sufficient supply, he explained. And in view of Christmas next month, he said there is plentiful supply of potatoes which are often used in recipes for the festive season.
As for the Chinese New Year at the end of January, he said that importers had begun pre-ordering leeks, arrowhead roots and lotus, which are ingredients needed for reunion dinners.
Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations president Lim Ser Kwee said that vegetables grown in places such as Johor had been impacted by floods and a scarcity of sunlight, leading to a 20% reduction in output.
“Vegetable farms are currently yielding merely about 40%, but farmers are compensating by planting more,” he said.
In Cameron Highlands where there is greenhouse cultivation, he said the impact of weather on vegetable output had been minimal. “However, recent wind disasters that ravaged many greenhouses have caused a delay of one to two weeks in harvesting,” he said.
As for the demand for sawi, he said the supply remains sufficient.
“Farmers have also initiated the planting of vegetables required for the Chinese New Year, in hopes of favourable weather and ample sunlight,” he said.
Tan Chee Kiong, who is Federation of Malaysia Vegetable Growers secretary, said that 16ha of Johor vegetable farms in Tangkak were submerged about a week ago.
This had damaged about 50 tonnes of vegetables, he said.
Most of the spoiled greens were red spinach (bayam) and water spinach (kangkong), he said, adding, however, that this only impacted 2% of the market supply.“It’s estimated that 40 acres of vegetable farms along with 100 acres of fruit orchards in our area were flooded. Fortunately, farmers managed to harvest vegetables before the rise in river levels.
“Those that were not fully grown had to be abandoned,” he said.
Since the soil was still damp, he said farmers could not resume planting.
Tan said that farming costs had surged by 40% due to the devastation brought by monsoon rains.
“The influx of cheaper imported vegetables has led to the under- pricing of local produce,” he said.
He also claimed that farmers in Cameron Highlands faced the most significant threat. For example, he said the harvest of cucumber had been poor there.
“Whenever the local harvest is poor, cucumbers are immediately imported from Thailand. This, in turn, would lower the price of local cucumbers even more,” he added.
