Malaysia — Cameron Highlands and Poly-tunnels

They do like a poly-tunnel in the Cameron Highlands

August 2015

The Cameron Highlands is much cooler and less humid than most of Malaysia, so they can grow things that could not be grown in the country’s more hot and humid regions. As a result, the Highlands is a big farming area where they can grow tea, strawberries (which they seem obsessed with — see later post) and many other fruits and vegetables.

The local farmers seem to be exploiting the area for its cooler weather, yet at the same time, they are forcing the growth of the plants by erecting a lot of poly-tunnels (see photos below). The poly-tunnels presumably increase the temperature. If that is the case, why don’t they grow crops that don’t need the tunnels or move to an area with the conditions to produce what they want? Am I missing something?

Quite frankly, the poly-tunnels are ugly and disfigure the landscape.