Crops totally submerged by flood water.
SIBU: The production of vegetables in Sg Bidut this month saw a drop of at least 70 per cent due to bad weather and flooding.
Sibu Vegetable Planters Association chairman Tang Liung Poh said it was quite a normal phenomenon. “We’re quite used to this. After all, there is nothing we can do,” he lamented.
Tang said vegetable farmers at Sg Bidut face such problems about four times a year.
“Somehow, we’ve got used to it,” he reiterated, adding that those farming near the river are the hardest hit. Last Thursday, flood water inundated our farms, and the water was about two feet deep,” he recalled, pointing out that some 30 families were affected.
Tang said they are all small-time farmers who will not be spared every time a big flood hits. He said when vegetable supply is scarce, the prices would be adjusted upward.
“Chinese New Year is in February, and I hope we’ll see good weather at least 40 days before the festival so that people will not have to get expensive vegetables for their reunion dinner,” he quipped.