Vegetable prices to stay high until after CNY

 

Vegetable vendors in a wet market.

PETALING JAYA: Vegetable prices are expected to remain high until after the Chinese New Year holidays.

According to Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association president Wong Keng Fatt, the main cause is the north-east monsoon.

He told FMT the monsoon was causing floods and landslides in Cameron Highlands and other vegetable-growing areas, affecting crop growth and supply.

The prices of cauliflower, beans, chillies and several other vegetables have risen by about 200% over the last two weeks.

Wong also attributed the shortage and thereby the high prices to a lack of manpower. “The slow recovery of the economy is making it difficult to bring in workers from overseas,” he said.

He said distributors in Cameron Highlands, where much of the country’s vegetables are grown, had notified him of the floods and landslides and the shortage of manpower.

Malaysia imports about two thirds of its vegetable needs and, according to Cameron Highlands Vegetable Farmers Association president Chai Kok Lim, global restrictions due to Covid-19 have hurt supply.

“These prices are greatly influenced by the laws of supply and demand,” he said. “Vegetables like chilies are expensive because they are seasonal and depend on import factors.”

He said the cost of transportation was also going up, leaving suppliers with no choice but to raise prices.

The issue of rising vegetable prices was brought up recently by the Consumers’ Association of Penang. It urged the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry and the federal agricultural marketing authority to investigate, saying it feared suppliers were violating the Anti-Profiteering Act. - FMT