CAMERON HIGHLANDS, May 28 — While the current hot spell has not drastically affected the production of crops in cool Cameron Highlands, it has brought another headache to farmers here: A plague of pests, from ladybirds to caterpillars.

Farmers interviewed by Malay Mail said the scorching temperature followed by moderate rain caused plant-eating insects to spread aggressively and threaten crop yields, and lamented the various problems that follow including financial issues as they need to spend more to acquire pesticides to protect and preserve the produce from being damaged.

"The seeds and fertilisers for the crops are already expensive nowadays and now with this insect problem, we need to get the pesticides as well,” said a small-scale farmer, who only wanted to be called Chai.

The 38-year-old, who owns a vegetable and strawberry farm in Brinchang, said that farmers here face a big burden due to pest issues as they need to increase the pesticide cycle.

"Since the bugs are growing rapidly, we need to increase the cycle of the pesticide. This means more work to the farmers and we also need to reapply the pesticide whenever it rains as it will wash away the pesticides,” he added.

Another farmer in Brinchang, who only wanted to be named as Tan, said that he needs to check his farm frequently in order to avoid the pests from damaging his crops.

"The insects have been causing a lot of problems to the crops. They have kept coming back even if we killed some from the pesticide,” said Tan, who cultivates onion and watercress.

Another farmer, who declined to be identified, said the pesticide would cost anywhere from RM50 to RM200 per one-litre bottle.

"Of course, farmers like us will suffer as we need to spend more in fighting these pests,” said the 60-year-old farmer, who owns a "sawi”, or mustard greens farm in Kampung Raja here.

He also explained that the months of April, May and June are known to be butterfly season in Cameron Highlands.

"So it is not a surprise that we have the pest problems as there will be caterpillars, however, this time they breed and spread faster due to the weather,” he said.

Additional challenges for small-scale farmers

Meanwhile, Cameron Highlands’ Vegetable Farmers Organisation president Datuk Chai Kok Lim said that the insect plague had led to farmers spending more on farming while not being able to hike up prices of the produce.

"Farmers cannot increase the price of the produce as they will not be able to sell it as wholesalers or buyers will shift to imported vegetables. This has caused farmers, especially small-scale ones, to suffer some loss,” he said.

Chai also explained that these small-scale farmers do not have a place or facility to store their vegetables produce.

"This means, they need to clear their produce after harvesting on the same day. So they either end up selling at a lower price even if they spend more in producing or the produce will be damaged and thrown away.

"However, the situation is different for big-scale farmers who can store the vegetables if the wholesalers refuse to buy them due to the pricing and sell whenever they want,” he said.

Chai also urged the government and authorities to help small-scale farmers by subsidising vegetable price whenever it goes down.

"We need to have a proper subsidy system where it will help these farmers. If the farmers keep spending more on growing the vegetables and are not able to sell them at a profit then they will suffer.

"I think it is only fair if the government help them when they are suffering as whenever the farmers increase the price of the vegetables the government or authorities will control it,” he said.

However, Tan said the pests have so far not affected the supply of the produce.

"The farmers are still able to produce the vegetables according to the demand and there are no disruptions in exporting the products to other countries like Singapore, Thailand and Saudi Arabia as well as for the domestic market,” he said.

Tan said that the current hot weather did not affect the vegetables produce as he said the hot weather only last about three to four hours a day and the hill still receives rain.

However, he said that only strawberry production was affected by about 20 to 30 per cent due to the weather.

"Farmers usually can collect about 100kg but now only 80 to 70kg. Also the strawberries did not reach their potential size and the colour of the fruit was also affected a bit.

"But there is no disruption in the supply of the fruit and the price of the fruit did not increase,” he said.