VEGETABLE farmers in Johor are left without much choice but to pay foreign workers above Malaysia’s minimum wage scale of RM1,700 a month.
Federation of Vegetable Farmers Association president Lim Ser Kwee said foreign workers were only willing to work at farms if they were paid more.
“We have to pay them not less than RM2,000 or else we would have no helpers at our farms,’’ he said when contacted.
“If a farmer chooses not to pay above the RM1,700 minimum wage rate, others might pay more to hire these workers,” he added.
Lim said that despite farmers’ willingness to exceed the minimum wage, locals did not want to do such work.
“Toiling under the sun at vegetable farms is not for locals.”
The Federal Government announced an increase in the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700 effective Feb 1, 2025.
This applies to all private sector employees including non-citizens, except for domestic workers and those under apprenticeship contracts.
However, for smaller businesses with fewer than five employees, the new rate takes effect beginning this month.
Lim said Malaysia’s traditional vegetable farming relied heavily on manual labour, particularly for harvesting and sorting.
He said some small-scale farmers in Johor had ceased operations due to difficulties in hiring workers, leaving their farms idle.
“We are smallholders. Inves-ting in farming technologies and automation requires big capital,” Lim said.
He also cautioned consumers against buying vegetables from unlicensed farmers who were not registered with the Agriculture Department.
Lim said vegetables grown by registered farmers were regularly monitored by the department to ensure compliance with chemical usage limits, including for fertilisers and pesticides.
“This is to ensure the vegetables are safe to consume and follow the Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices Scheme (MyGap).”
Lim said the department’s certification scheme was aimed at recognising farms that follow sustainable and responsible agricultural practices.
