CAMERON HIGHLANDS, Nov 30 (Sin Chew Daily) — Vegetables are getting more expensive nowadays, as the prices of French beans, green onions and coriander are up almost by a whopping 200%.

Prices of greens are determined by market demand and supply, not the farmers, says Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers’ Association secretary Chay Ee Mong.

Farmers are facing the issue of manpower shortage and poor harvest due to the rainy reason, he added.

Chay told Sin Chew Daily prices of greens soared due to the rainy season, manpower shortage, more expensive fertilizers as well as difficulties in importing greens.

He said the rainy season led to poor harvest and affected the quality of vegetables.

As the government had suspended the intake of foreign workers, farmers were also facing manpower shortage while existing workers were demanding higher wages, he said.

Besides, the cost for imported greens has also increased due to higher transportation costs.

For fear of delay in shipment, importers have cut back on their orders too, Chay said.

Meanwhile, Cameron Highlands Chinese Farmers Association deputy president Cheng Nam Hong said the prices of greens were determined by a number of factors such as weather, manpower and cost.

The wholesale price of coriander has increased from RM3 to more than RM10 per kilogram while the wholesale price of green onion has gone up to RM9 from RM3 per kilogram.

Cheng said the supply of greens was sufficient to meet the market demand but he was worried of prolonged rainy season which may further affect the harvest.