KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — Tanah Rata assemblyman Ho Chi Yang has raised alarm over a sharp surge in cheap Chinese vegetable imports, warning that the flood of produce is crippling Malaysian farmers and putting the nation’s food security at risk.
He said Malaysia’s vegetable imports from China rose from US$550 million (RM2.3 billion) in 2022 to US$882 million in 2024, marking an average annual increase of 26 per cent.
Ho argued that such a drastic rise could not be explained by domestic demand alone and suggested that it risks destabilising the local market.
“The uncontrolled inflow of imported vegetables, regardless of type, inevitably risks distorting the supply-demand balance and severely undermining the livelihoods of local farmers,” he said in a statement today.
Farm-gate prices in Cameron Highlands have plunged to as low as RM0.50 to RM0.60 per kilogram for cucumbers and cabbages, leaving many farmers struggling to cover their costs, he pointed out.
Ho said prolonged losses would drive small and medium-scale farmers out of business, discouraging younger Malaysians from entering the sector.
He noted that several crops, including cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, eggplants and long beans, have already reached self-sufficiency ratios of over 100 per cent.
In such cases, he said excessive imports amounted to oversupply that depressed prices and damaged the domestic agricultural ecosystem.
“Continued losses will drive farmers out of the sector, eventually collapsing domestic production capacity and undermining the nation’s food security goals,” Ho cautioned.
He urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to review the current import mechanism and impose targeted quotas for vegetables where local supply is already sufficient.
At the same time, he called for subsidies on fertilisers and pesticides to reduce production costs for small and medium-scale farmers.
Ho stressed that securing farmers’ livelihoods and reducing reliance on imports would be a cornerstone in helpnig Malaysia achieve the agricultural priorities set out in the 13th Malaysia Plan.
