Global Courant 2023-04-25 05:55:07
PETALING JAYA – Farmers across Malaysia have dumped tons of vegetables due to the closure of markets over the long weekend, but they say the situation will return to normal after the Hari Raya festivities.
Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers Association Vice President Lau Weng Soow said there was a vegetable surplus in the Cameron Highlands three weeks ago and farmers ended up throwing vegetables away during the long Hari Raya holiday.
“In the past, greengrocers threw away surplus products during the same holiday, but not as much as this time. I estimate that nearly 1,000 tons of vegetables were thrown away in Cameron alone.
“If you add in the more than 1,000 tons of vegetables discarded from the plains, greengrocers would have lost millions of ringgit,” he said.
This was the first time they had done this in large quantities, Mr. Lau said.
He said cucumbers, tomatoes, sawi (choy sum) and kale were among the vegetables.
“The low demand for vegetables during Ramadan, combined with the long holiday in which many vegetable markets did not open and with a number of sellers and traders still on holiday, reduced the demand for vegetables significantly.
“Vegetable growers were forced to destroy and replant vegetables to meet future market demand,” he added.
Lau said the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) and the Association of Greengrocers and Greengrocers should work together to control the amount of vegetables available in the country.
He suggested reintroducing Vegetable Import Permits (APs) so that Malaysians are only allowed to import vegetables when there is a shortage of vegetables, to avoid losses for domestic farmers.
“The authorities should only import vegetables if they are not self-sufficient, rather than importers who only import vegetables and thereby affect the supply of local farmers,” he said.
He said that vegetable growers have never received government subsidies and are responsible for all losses and destruction of vegetables.
Asked about reports that Fama would also provide advisory services to ensure a stable supply of vegetables, thus benefiting local growers, Mr. Lau that this was not a sustainable solution.
He said Fama could only buy vegetables at below-market prices and would risk oversupplying.
Fama, he said, currently buys tomatoes from Cameron growers for RM0.80 (S$0.24) to RM0.90 per kg and that the growers may also have to bear transportation costs.
