Minister for Sustainability and Environment, Grace Fu, said in a Facebook post that Malaysia’s farms have been inundated by the heavy rains over the past few days.
She warned of vegetable prices in Malaysia rising as a result, and that Singaporeans are likely to feel the impact of the price increase.
She said that the MSE is working with local farmers to ramp up the production of vegetables here so that we can keep the vegetable prices under control.
Fu urged Singaporeans to “Support Local” as much as they can, because it helps with the impact of “future supply shocks” and encourages our local farms to produce more vegetables.
More than 1 million kg of vegetables destroyed
The president of Malaysia’s Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations, Lim Ser Kwee, said that the recent spate of sudden and heavy rain has damaged more than 1 million kg of vegetables on their farms in the southern peninsula.
The losses sustained so far have amounted to more than tens of millions of ringgit, with their supply in the vegetable wholesale market being in “chaos”.
Grace Fu’s statement
The heavy rains over the past few days have inundated farms in Malaysia. Vegetable prices in Malaysia may rise, and we will likely feel its impact.
We have been working with the agri-food industry to ramp up local production, but consumers doing their part to support local produce is an equally important part of the equation.
This keeps our local farms in business and encourages them to produce more, which mitigates the impact of future supply shocks.
I encourage Singaporeans to #SupportLocal as much as you can, and not only when there are price hikes for imports. Let’s all help to grow a vibrant agri-food ecosystem in Singapore