Tanah Rata assemblyman Ho Chi Yang said Cameron Highlands farmers are struggling to make ends meet as cucumbers and cabbage sell below production cost as these vegetables have reached or exceeded the 100% self-sufficiency ratio (SSR).
“This not only threatens the livelihoods of small and medium-scale farmers but also discourages younger generations from entering the field, pushing Malaysia’s food self-sufficiency targets even further out of reach,” he said in a statement today.
It was previously reported that Malaysia’s SSR for vegetables was only 45.4% in 2023 and the SSR for tropical vegetables had reached 83.1%.
A higher SSR indicates greater food security and less reliance on imports.
Ho said surging imports could be a possible cause, citing data that Malaysia’s vegetable imports from China jumped from US$550 million in 2022 to US$882 million in 2024, a 36.3% increase per year.
“In this context, the uncontrolled inflow of imported vegetables, regardless of type, inevitably risks distorting the supply-demand balance, creating oversupply in the market, driving down farm-gate prices, and severely undermining the livelihoods of local farmers,” he said.
While imports may temporarily benefit consumers with cheaper vegetables, Ho stressed that unregulated imports could badly affect domestic production.
“Ultimately, this will undermine the nation’s food security goals, making it a self-defeating strategy,” he added.
Ho urged the agriculture and food security ministry to implement targeted import controls and quotas for crops where the SSR is already high.
He said the ministry needs to introduce institutional support measures, such as subsidies for fertilisers and pesticides, to help reduce farmers’ production costs.
He also highlighted the importance of long-term land security, noting that Cameron Highlands farmers currently only hold five-year agricultural leases.
“Without long-term land security, farmers cannot confidently invest in modern farming infrastructure or adopt new technologies, making industry-wide upgrading difficult, let alone the full realisation of smart farming,” he added.