LETTER | Govt must know that vegetable price hike totally unjustified

LETTER | Whatever the findings may reveal - i.e. monsoons and ringgit value - the astronomical price spikes for locally grown vegetables cannot be justified on various counts. 

Situated on the equatorial belt, our nation is blessed with fertile terrains that naturally support vegetation.

The need for imported fertilisers is an excuse for short-term gains. The proper advancement of composite soil enrichment methods should have been sustained instead.

When tomatoes and ladies’ fingers are being sold at RM16 per kg instead of RM6, it is an indication of a failed national agricultural policy. 

And why do we need to import vegetables when our own local vegetable spreads of varieties are as good as foreign ones, if not even better?

But today we have lost the numerous varieties of kampung vegetables and even lack knowledge about the goodness of such vegetables. 

Are we not paying a hefty price owing to greed, abandoned agro policies of past decades, and the national chasing after developments at the expense of feeding the population? 

We abandoned agricultural science as a career the day the nation’s “pertanian” university switched to being a management centre of learning. 

We stopped teaching agricultural science in schools all the way until Form Five. 

Schools were robbed of compounds for the hobbyist cultivation of interests in gardening. 

The numerous kampung vegetables were abandoned by a corrupting culture of celebrating imported, foreign, temperate varieties. 

Privatisation of arable farms has led to an export culture that has left only lower-grade farm produce to feed locals. 

Palm oil also robbed us of the ability to grow and meet the citizens’ vegetable and fruit consumption needs and affordability.

Let us be more honest. 

As our population is destined to grow bigger in the decades ahead, feeding the citizens must become a top priority. 

It is time to admit failures and reset the national policies if we want to see any progress in the local agricultural and animal husbandry sectors.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.