FLOODS in Johor and Pahang this past fortnight have affected the country’s vegetable production, a farmer’s organisation said.

It said the northeast monsoon has caused a 20-30% decline in vegetable production, which has hiked some prices.

Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations president Lim Ser Kwee told The Malaysian Insight Johor and Pahang were the country’s top vegetable producers.

“As production decreases, prices rise. For example, cucumbers and eggplants, which are in high demand, are more expensive. But once the weather stabilises, prices will fall,” he said.

One kilogramme of cucumbers currently retails at RM4-5.

“The demand for vegetables is high and prices are good, but we have no production, no supply, and we can’t make money. Consumers misunderstand and claim farmers are profiteering … they don’t know the ups and downs of farming,” he said.

Lim said the supply of greens during Lunar New Year would not be affected if the weather improves this week.

Cameron Highlands Chinese Farmers deputy president Cheng Nan Hong said lettuce and chrysanthemum, which would be in demand during the festival and which were affected by the inclement weather, would see price hikes if the rain persisted.

He said the continuous downpour has also impacted the tomato harvest.

“It takes 20 days for a tomato plant to bloom and fruit, but (in the past two weeks), the weather has been cold and there was no sunshine, so there were no flowers and no fruits, resulting in low yield,” he said.

Cheng said, on average, Cameron Highlands farms produced 100kg of tomatoes a day, but production has fallen to 30kg a day.

“The situation has improved since last week and production is recovering, but the current price is still high, ranging from RM4 to RM5 per kg. At one point in late December, it was RM6.” – January 17, 2024.