Unpredictable weather has affected the production of vegetables in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands, causing shortages and prices to double. Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers Association secretary Chay Ee Mong said the January to March period usually sees dry weather in the highlands. Instead, it has been raining almost daily. Now, there is a severe shortage of tomatoes, chillies, okra, long beans and eggplant, among others, he said.
Chay: “The demand is there, but the supply is low. And no thanks to the flooding in Pahang and Johor, the supply chain has worsened too. Prices of some vegetables have increased by between 40 per cent and more than 100 per cent.”
He said the crops had been affected by high humidity and diseases that caused the failure of crops or reduced their quality.
According to Chay, other issues such as labour shortages, insufficient land and a lack of subsidies were not easing the situation for farmers.
Source: straitstimes.com