MELAKA: Farmers and fishermen in the state are sweating it out as the weather heats up and they are bringing less home.
Vegetable farmer Yusof Selamat, 45, from Kampung Lancang, Merlimau, Jasin near here said previously, when the weather was good, he could earn as much as RM2,000 a month, but with the current hot weather, his income has dropped by about 40 per cent.
“I am now faced with rising costs during this hot season especially the water bills because when the weather is good, I do not have to water my plants often, and I can get water from the drains and tanks, but everything has dried up since a month ago.
“I have now to fork out RM200 a month for the water bill, when previously I only paid RM100 each month, because now I am totally dependent on piped water for my plants, and when it is dry like this, the plants have to be watered more often,” he told Bernama.
Bernama recently reported that the deputy director-general of the Malaysian Meteorological Department, Jailan Simon, said the change-of-monsoon season will begin at the end of this month and the hot weather cool down by the end of next month.
Yusof said ‘sawi’, ‘kangkung’, ‘kacang panjang’ and ‘bayam’ were among the vegetables which were popular among consumers, but the hot season had caused him to change what he planted.
“During the hot season, it is very difficult to maintain ‘sawi’ and ‘kacang panjang’ as they need a lot of water, so I can only plant ‘kangkung’ and ‘bayam’ which need little water, and my income has dropped,” he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, chili farmer Mohamad Jiwa Ami, 40, from Merlimau Pantai, Jasin near here he was worried that his plants were producing smaller chilis and the plants themselves seem to wilt faster.
Mohamad Jiwa plants the centil cili and during good weather, he can get as much as 50 kg when the chili matures every 10 day, but this has now gone down to 20 kg as the chili is smaller and over-ripe.
“Of late, the plant and the chili are small compared to before; I am worried that if the hot weather continues, the plants will die. I am suffering losses as the costs are increasing, especially the water bills but produce has dropped,” he said.
Mohamad Jiwa said besides the increasing water bills he now has to bear as he has to water his plants more often, he also has to add more fertilisers and brown sugar to treat his plants which are wilting in the hot weather.
Meanwhile, fisherman Noorsham Ahmad, 44, from Pantai Siring, Jasin near here said his earnings have been affected by choppy seas and rising sea temperature during the current hot weather.
He said when the weather is good, he could go out to sea about 20 to 22 times a month, but with choppy seas, he had to spend more time on land than at sea.
“The hot weather is causing fishermen to lose half their income as they cannot go out to seas as often as before. Choppy waters, dry and hot weather can be risky to fishermen,” he said.
Meanwhile, Agriculture, Entrepreneur Development, Agro-Based Industry and Cooperatives committee chairman Norhizam Hassan Baktee said he will meet with the farmers soon to learn more about their problems. – Bernama
