KEPALA BATAS: Penang is likely to see a significant drop in the production of seasonal fruits this year due to the El Niño phenomenon.
State Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) director Habibah Sulaiman said the state could expect to see a drop of between 40 per cent and 50 per cent.
She said among the seasonal fruits affected included durian, rambutan, cempedak, duku/dukong and mangosteen.
"We can expect to see a significant drop in the production of seasonal fruits this year due to the heatwave.
"It was extremely hot two months ago and we are just starting to get some rain now, which we hope can help in the production of the seasonal fruits," she told reporters here today.
Habibah also said that there was an increase in prices for red chili.
"The price today is RM22 per kg compared with RM15 per kg normally," she added.