Greens more expensive now

Fresh produce: Chin (left) with his workers packing vegetables to be distributed to Johor and Singapore.

JOHOR BARU: The prices of vegetables have gone up as much as 30% due to the rainy season especially in the northern part of the state and also parts of Cameron Highlands.

The unpredictable weather has impacted farmers who are reaping lower yield and this is expected to continue for some time.

However, Federation of Malaysian Vegetable Farmers Association president Tan So Tiok assured consumers there would be sufficient vegetables for Hari Raya.

He noted that it had been raining for the past two weeks but on Sunday there was a flash flood, which affected many vegetables farms in Tangkak.

“Although water receded within an hour, some of the crops were affected, ” he said.

Gone under: Vegetable farms at Bukit Gambir in Tangkak, Johor, partially submerged due to heavy flooding.

Tan said previously they were producing about 70 metric tonnes of vegetables daily but dropped to about 50 metric tonnes. In northern Johor alone, there were about 50 vegetable farmers cultivating some 242ha of land, he said.

He said most of their produce was for local consumption while some farmers in Simpang Renggam, Kulai and Kempas exported their vegetables to Singapore via middlemen.Tan said for the moment farmers would not want to risk planting too much during the rainy season.

Meanwhile, local vegetable and fruits wholesaler Chin Boon Ching said the prices of vegetables went up not just in Johor but in other states because produce from Cameron Highlands were also more expensive due to the rainy season.

“The biggest increase was red chilies, which have gone up from RM4 to almost RM7 per kg, ” he said.

Chin said prices of vegetables would usually go up at the end of the year due to the monsoon season, but heavy rains over the past two weeks also affected all types of flowering vegetables.