FOREIGNERS first brought in to work short-handed vegetable farms in the peninsula have become a threat to their former employers, the Federation of Malaysian Vegetable Farmers Associations said.

Federation president Lim Ser Kwee told The Malaysian Insight these foreigners have become “vegetable bosses” themselves.

He said the foreigners rent idle farms and sell their produce at cut-rate prices.

“They are depressing the price of the vegetables in the market, threatening the livelihoods of local farm owners,” Lim said.

Lim said before the pandemic, the situation was confined to a few areas in the peninsula, but that it had spread.

“From the information I am getting, this situation is now happening in all states. It’s a pervasive issue.”

Lim said the foreigners would seek their former employers who were too old to work the land and have no family members keen on maintaining the farms.

He said the increasing number of farms in the hands of foreigners has led to stiff competition and growing reports of unethical practices.

“These foreigners work the land themselves, so their labour costs are either nil or very low. The low cost is what allows them to undercut market prices.

“However, what we are most concerned with is not price competitions. These foreigners lack the knowledge of pesticide use, and the pesticides they use are not approved by the Agriculture (and Food Security) Ministry (MAFS),” Lim said.

“I am worried that in the long run, local vegetable farmers will not be able to compete with these foreigners and are forced to shut their farms.”

He hit out at the MAFS for not assisting local farmers.

He said the association had raised the issue of foreigners renting land to farm, but “nothing has been done”.

Federation adviser Tan So Tiok said MAFS’ failure to act emboldened foreigners, and more idle farms are falling into their hands.

“The government needs to act now to deescalate the situation. From our observation, the problem is worsening. It’s spreading to all states.”

However, that was a claim Cheng Nam Hong, deputy president of the Cameron Highlands Chinese Farmers’ Association, did not agree with.

He said most farms in Cameron Highlands were still under citizens’ control.

Cheng said vegetable prices have been decreasing in the past six months, posing problems to foreigners harbouring dreams of becoming “vegetable bosses”.

“They cannot afford the rental fees. Many have given up and prefer to continue working as labourers.”

Cheng said farm owners who rented land to foreigners were violating the law.

“The association has often reminded members of this.”

Besides renting the land, Cheng said foreigners who married locals were circumventing the law by using their spouses’ names to set up companies and become wholesalers.

But he said there would be competition in any industry. – October 28, 2023.