BHARU CITY: Harakah Daily reports that vegetable growers in the Lojing Highlands and Cameron Highlands currently being forced to throw away about 50 tons of produce every day have also received ministerial attention.

At the end of Ramadan it was revealed that competition from vegetables imported from Thailand and China were causing local vegetable prices to fall.

It has an impact on the cost of farm operations, in addition to facing rising prices of agricultural inputs including steel.

Treasurer of the Bumiputera Lojing Vegetable and Flower Entrepreneurs Association, Mohd Rahimi Ibrahim said that nearly 1,000 Indonesian vegetable entrepreneurs in the region including Cameron Highlands were hit by the competitive price of imported vegetables.

He said if the government did not act immediately to stem the input of imported vegetables, many local farmers would close down operations.

“I hope the Department of Agriculture and the Association of Agricultural Marketing Institute (FAMA) come to review the situation in Lojing,” he said here recently.

The price of green cucumber or timun Jepun at the end of Ramadan fell by 30 sen (exchange rate today1 sen=$0.499) a kilogram and tomato grade A also fell by RMi a kilogram.

Mohd Rahimi also expects that within two to three months, if the government does not stop the import of vegetables, farmers in Lojing will go out of business.

Three years ago, the greengrocer was forced to dispose of his produce because of the Movement Control Order (PKP), which prevented farm produce from being marketed.

And now they are faced with the slowdown of imported vegetables from Thailand and China.

On April 24, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Dato’ Seri Mohamad Sabu was reported to have informed the government that he would look into the problem of the vegetable lambakan (wave) that occurred in Tanah Tinggi Lojing to the detriment of approximately 500 farmers.

Meanwhile, a vegetable farm worker, Karti Muniandy hopes that the government will prioritize local agricultural products because they are more controlled by chemical content.

“On the other hand, the government prioritizes products from Thailand and China, while imported agricultural products are believed to have a high chemical content.

“Whereas vegetables from Lojing and Cameron Highlands are controlled for the use of chemicals so that they can be exported to Singapore,” he said.

Another farmer, Khoy See Feng, said the rising prices of local vegetables stemmed from the manipulation of middlemen or contractors.

“We are worried that the buyers are only selling half of the vegetables taken from Lojing to make more profit when prices rise in the market.

“Meanwhile, the buyers get supplies in the garden at a low price. In addition, there is competition from vegetables imported from Thailand and China,” he said.

He said that due to the low prices taken by contractors, some agricultural products are given to residents and restaurants for free.

Source: Fama.gov.my