VEGETABLE growers in Peninsular Malaysia are at odds with each other over whether there is a shortage in the supply of greens in local markets.

Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association president Wong Keng Fatt said there is a shortage and blamed it on pest attacks, but two others dismissed that, saying farmers are actually enjoying a bumper harvest.

Wong told The Malaysian Insight that pest attacks have reduced harvests of the greens in the peninsula by 30-40%, causing prices to similarly rise by 30-40%.

He said the current hot and dry spell is the cause of the problem as it is conducive to the rapid growth of the pests, adding that leafy vegetables were the most prone to pest attacks.

He said the problem has pushed the prices of the two most popular leafy vegetables – choi sum (Chinese flowering cabbage) up by RM1 per kg, from RM5 per kg to RM6, and pak choi (Chinese celery cabbage), from RM4 per kg to RM5.

“We don’t sell vegetables that have been attacked by pests. We throw them all away,” he said.

Wong said the attacks started during the Hari Raya period.

He said the problem is not going to end soon as the weatherman has forecast that the hot spell is expected to continue until the end of August.

However, Cameron Highlands Chinese Farmers Association deputy president Cheng Nam Hong and Farmers Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations Malaysia president Lim Ser Kwee disagreed with Wong.

They said although there had been an increase in pest attacks, they had not yet affected the harvests.

Cheng said the harvests would drop during the rainy season, not during the dry season.

He said during the rainy season, the vegetables generally could be harvested in 25-30 days.

However, during hot, dry spells like what the country is experiencing now, the growing period of the vegetables would be shorter and harvesting could be done in 23 days.

Lim said the current hot weather has in fact resulted in a bumper crop for “every farmer”.

“So there is no question of reduced harvests or shortage of supply and higher prices. The vegetables damaged by pests are only a small part of the harvest,” he said.

Cheng agreed, saying that although pests have damaged some of the crops, the impact is still manageable at the moment.

Since the end of the Hari Raya holidays, when demand for vegetables was at its lowest, it had rebounded by about 70%

At present, eggplants and cabbages are reported to be in abundance and the supply of tomatoes and the other vegetables is gradually returning to normal. – May 10, 2023.