FARMERS HIT HARD BY RM1m LOSSES

LEDANG: Recent floods in Johor destroyed 80 hectares of farmland in Sengkang here resulting in losses amounting to more than RM1 million.

Crops such as long beans, cucumber, sweet potato and carrot, most of which were ready to be harvested, were ruined by floodwaters from Sungai Sawah Ring and canals that drained into Sungai Muar.

Federation of Malaysian Vegetable Farmers' Association chairman Tan So Tiok said approximately 100 farmers suffered losses.

Sengkang is well-known as prime farming land.

Various vegetables grown here are shipped to markets in Johor and Malacca.

Tan added that the losses resulted in rise in prices for vegetables in both the states due to limited stock, which could only be replenished in a month's time.

SOURCE: NST, FEB 10, 2011