Veg prices up as pests take bigger bite of crops

 

Choy sum (left) and baby pak choy (right) that have been eaten by pests and cannot be sold.

PETALING JAYA: The current heatwave has led to an increase in pest populations resulting in a drop in vegetable production and a rise in vegetable prices by up to 40%.

Lau Weng Soow, a manager at Pek Ong and Sons Nurseries which has plantations in Cameron Highlands said the hot weather has boosted the reproductive rates of leaf-eating pests such as armyworms, thrips and leaf miners.

As a result, the pests have eaten more leaves of the vegetables, leading to crop damage.

Typically, 90% of the crops harvested at the farm are of “A Grade” quality, with vegetable leaves showing very little damage by pests. However, the harvest rate has dropped from 90% to 70%.

“We won’t sell the vegetables if too much has been eaten by the pests,” he told FMT.

Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesaler Association president Wong Keng Fatt said the price of baby pak choy has gone up by 30% to 40%.

Before the heatwave, baby pak choy cost RM2 to RM3 per kilogramme.

“The current market price for good quality baby pak choy has risen to between RM5 and RM6 per kg, while those with leaves eaten by pests sell for between RM3 and RM3.50,” he said.

Wong said vegetable farmers also incur more costs in having to water their crops more often during the heatwave to prevent vegetables from wilting.

The hot weather is expected to last till August. - FMT