Cheap imports, aimless programmes hurting farmers

The Star

01-06-2025

The right help: With proper policies, incentives and technological help, local farmers will be able to produce bountiful crops to match major food producers like China, Japan and India, say agriculture and food security experts.
PETALING JAYA: Vegetable farmers and livestock breeders say that cheap imports and unfocused programmes are why their industries are 'in a crisis' despite all the attention given to agriculture for the past two decades.
Local growers are unable to compete with cheap vegetables brought in from China, Vietnam and Thailand, which is why some farms are leaving their crops to rot instead of harvesting them.
Cattle breeders say that government programmes encouraging farmers to breed cows for meat have failed to produce more beef for local consumption because the initiatives did not go to the right people.
'I do not know if our vegetable farmers can survive for the next two years because cheap imports are driving the prices down and we cannot compete,' said Cameron Highlands Malay Farmers Association chairman Datuk Syed Abd Rahman Syed Abd Rashid.
For instance, with the cost of producing cabbages being 80sen, farmers have to sell their produce at more than RM1 per kilo in order to make a profit, he said.
'But cabbages from China are sold in supermarkets at 60sen per kilo. So, how can we compete with these prices?
'Wholesalers and importers are bringing in tonnes of these vegetables every day, so how is our local produce going to compete?' he asked.
The vegetable glut in the market is currently nearly all year-round, added Syed Abd Rahman, making it hard for farmers to earn an income.
'In the last two years, I have not made a profit at all from growing vegetables. This is something I am sure farmers all over the country have experienced. Our industry is in a crisis,' he noted.
The Statistics Department's (DOSM) Agriculture Census 2024 showed that Malaysia continued to depend on imports to meet local demand for beef, mutton and milk. In 2024, 84%, 89.% and 56.6% of these items, respectively, were from other countries.
Cattle breeder Jamal Abdul Karim said that according to DOSM's past data, the country had higher levels of self-sufficiency for beef in the years before the Covid-19 pandemic, but this has declined and the nation has increased its imports.
'In my own experience, when we were sourcing cattle for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidiladha, we could not find enough animals in Peninsular Malaysia. We had to source from Thailand', said Jamal, who is the chief executive officer of Colla Niaga Sdn Bhd.
Despite seeing years of government programmes to encourage the growth of local breeders, Jamal said the results have been lacklustre because the initiatives lack focus.
'The problem is that we don't choose the right people who want to be breeders. For instance, we give out cows to oil palm planters so they can breed them in their plantations.
'But the problem is these people are focused on oil palm and not cattle-breeding. To make the industry viable, we need the government to work with the right breeders,' Jamal added.