Veggie farmers enjoying bumper crop

GEORGE TOWN: While many are trying to escape the scorching heat, farmers are enjoying a good crop, and this has brought down the prices of vegetables by 40%.

Vegetable seller Tan Sin Soon said prices for at least seven out of 10 vegetables had gone down, thanks to the dry weather and good growing conditions.

He said the vegetables that could tolerate drier conditions and higher temperatures were Chinese cabbage (bak choy), Chinese mustard leaves (kai choy), tomatoes, capsicum, big chillies and broccoli, among others.

“When it rains heavily, the water cannot be controlled and it spoils the vegetables.

“But with this kind of weather, it results in quality crop.

“With a bumper crop, the prices have gone down,” he said at Chowrasta Market yesterday.

Penang Island Vegetable Wholesalers Association chairman Tan Ban Ben said the prices of certain vegetables had decreased due to the increase in yield as a result of good weather.

He said farmers were not worried about the dry season as they had been using underground water to cultivate their plants.

“However, if the hot weather persists, underground water might run out, too,” he said.

Ban Ben said there was a drop in prices for tomatoes and spring onions.

He said the wholesale price of RM5 per kg for tomatoes had been reduced to RM3.50 per kg.

For spring onions, he said it was priced at RM4 per kg compared to its regular price of RM7 per kg.

He, however, said the prices of imported vegetables from China and Australia had increased.

It was the opposite in Johor Baru where prices of vegetables have skyrocketed due to the heat wave.

Larkin Market Traders Association chairman Abdullah Ideris said prices of vegetables such as red chillies, long beans, ladies fingers and mustard greens had gone up due to the hot and dry weather.

He said long beans were now sold at RM9 per kilo, up from RM6 about a week ago.

Red chillies is at RM12 per kilo from RM10 per kilo; sawi is between RM3 and RM4, an increase of 50 sen; while ladies fingers is RM10 per kilo now compared to just RM6 last week.

“We received complaints from traders and customers on the price hike of certain vegetables.

“Suppliers are also bringing in fewer vegetables as the weather is affecting production,” he said.

Johor Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal said the heat wave was affecting agriculture production at many farms.