Cold snap in Cameron Highlands drives up prices of some veggies
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Vegetables such as tomatoes, French beans, chillies, capsicum and spinach are affected by the cold snap in Cameron Highlands.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
IPOH – The prices of tomatoes, chillies and capsicum from Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands are to go up by nearly 70 per cent soon due to low harvests as a result of a cold spell and pest infestations.
However, the prices of leafy greens such as sawi (mustard greens), siew pak choy (bok choy) and iceberg lettuce are going down as there is a bumper harvest for these crops.
Mr Chay Ee Mong, secretary of the Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers Association, said vegetables such as tomatoes, French beans, chillies, capsicum, Japanese cucumber and spinach are affected by the cold snap.
“Fruit flies and the low temperatures are affecting the crops. Harvests for such vegetables are low as farmers need to spend more to protect the crops from being damaged,” he told The Star.
Mr Chay added that the temperature in the highlands is 22 deg C during the day and between 15 deg C and 16 deg C at night.
Such temperatures and a balanced mix of rain and sunshine are perfect growing conditions for leafy vegetables, he said.
“That is why some agricultural produce will be negatively affected by low temperatures, while others may thrive as the weather is suitable for fruiting, as long as there is no consistent downpour.
“The prices of sawi, siew pak choy and iceberg lettuce are low at the moment as the weather is suitable, and there are also no issues of pests attacking such leafy vegetables,” he said.
He said the price of green capsicum is more than RM10 (S$2.90) a kilogram, while the prices for the yellow and red ones could reach up to RM15.
Chillies are about RM7.50 per kilogram, French beans about RM7 and tomatoes about RM5.
Kinta Vegetable Wholesalers Association chairman Tan Peng Kiang said the prices for leafy vegetables have come down.
He said that in July, the price of sawi was RM5 a kilogram, but is now as low as RM1.
“For the siew pak choy, it is between RM2.50 and RM3, compared with RM5 just last month.
“As for the other vegetables, the crops are not that good at the moment due to the weather and the pest issues.
“Thus there is a shortage of tomatoes, chillies and other vegetables affected by the low temperatures in Cameron Highlands.
“Sometimes, these vegetables do not even reach Ipoh and are instead sent to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
