The chief journalist for the poster, zhang zhang zhang, zhang zhang zhang, zhang zhong, kim lihong, zheng zhen zheng zhen
In recent days, news of a cucumber price increase to five dollars has caused interest among netizens. Reporters have found that the price of vegetables is higher than cucumbers, and that green peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, etc., were once sold at a high price of $78,000. In the past few days, poster journalists have conducted in-depth investigations at the “vivine country” resorts in which they visit vegetable plantations, distribution centres, vegetable markets, etc。
There are nine increases in the price index for the top ten vegetable categories
In many places, drought and flooding have reduced the availability of open vegetables in the north
Lifelight is not only a “basket” for the entire country, but also the country's largest vegetable distribution centre. It is like a huge transportation hub, with trucks carrying single varieties of vegetables from all over the country coming in, gathering more than a dozen large quantities of vegetables, then distributing them through wholesalers to large agricultural markets and large businesses across the country, eventually reaching the people's table. In august, most of the sheds in the radiant areas entered the shed as usual, and northern vegetables in the provinces became the subject of sales of the radiant agricultural logistics park. On 21 august, in an interview, journalists found it difficult to find cucumber booths in the logistics park. Several vegetable wholesalers told journalists that this was because “the price of cucumbers increased too much and the demand for consumers decreased”。
Lee jin-yu, head of cheung yun vegetables limited, said: “in june and july, the price of cucumbers rose too fast, and the consumers turned to buy other vegetables, making cucumbers unmarketable, expensive, difficult to deliver and prone to rot in the hands of wholesalers.” the journalists noted that in previous years, large cabbage, at a wholesale price of 78 cents, was once sold at a “over-the-year price” of almost $2 per pound。
And wang wei, a soybean wholesaler, told the reporters that the purchase price for each item (16 kg) was $20 and $30 higher than it was a few days ago. “the price is a little lower, we sold 78 cars a day, and we sold four cars today (august 21),” “it rained again on the land of hebei province, and the amount was very small, and i don't think the price of cabbage will fall again recently.” throughout the vegetable wholesale market, zhang kim yu's business was on a scale of one to two, “the prices of tungsten and pepper have increased, the price of tungsten has doubled, and the price of pepper has increased by more than a dollar per pound”
From 12 august to 18 august, according to data provided by the business bureau of lifelight city on the monitoring of vegetables in distribution centres, the price index for the top 10 vegetable categories increased by 9 index groups and fell by 1 class; the distinct categories of increase were cabbage (39. 1 per cent), beans (23. 9 per cent), leafbean (20. 6 per cent), aquatic (20. 0 per cent), and melons (-6. 5 per cent). Moreover, the increase in the price of large winter melons was most pronounced, at 171. 1 per cent compared to the same period last year, and the increase in the price of large cabbage at 167. 4 per cent compared to the same period last year。
According to feedback from several interviewees, including vegetable growers, wholesalers and others, sustained rainfall during the previous period was the main reason for the recent increase in vegetable prices. Frequent rainfall in the north has led to restrictions on the growth, harvesting and transport of open vegetables in the north, and increases in purchase prices and costs have pushed up the prices of vegetables. In addition, rainfall leads to reduced preservation capacity, shorter storage times for vegetables and a high risk of decomposition, leading to increased conservation costs and losses, as well as lower overall quality of the supply。
High-temperature superheat and continuous rainfall slows the market
It's not ready yet
On the evening of 22 august, under the sun, the vegetable sheds of willow town in the sunlight city were sprawled, but few of them were directly harvested. A 51-year-old liu sang-yung has been operating a vegetable shed since 1997, and the main varieties in these two years were fruit cucumbers and tomatoes. He stated that the price of fruit cucumbers this year, influenced by high temperatures, was very high: “in july, wholesale prices could reach more than six dollars and could now sell more than three dollars.” at the beginning of july, liu sang-yung sold a well-priced set, but at considerable cost。
This summer's high temperature and continuous rainfall brought management problems that growers had to face: “open the wind and rain will wash down the seedlings; close the wind. The seedlings entered the `sweet evaporation room', where the temperature reached 50°c, where the acupuncture lost its high day and night temperature and the roots were affected by the rain”。
Liu sang-yon noted that it was very difficult to “suspens” for the fluctuations in the price of big vegetables because they could not be marketed in a short period of time, “like the tomatoes and fruit cucumbers that i now plant, which began planting in late july and early august, will not be available until september and october”. Liu sang-yun said that the planting of vegetables in several other sheds might have to wait until september or october and could only be postponed until the end of the year。
As a wholesaler of vegetables for more than a decade, li jinyu stated that it was normal for consumers to see a large rise in vegetables in their eyes: “the pattern of past years shows seasonal fluctuations in vegetable prices, especially during the rainy season, when price increases are normal, although this year has been longer, and this is not an abnormal increase”. A similar situation was noted in the same period two years ago, with the continued high temperature and drought in the south and a reduction in vegetable production between july and august 2022, leading to an increase in the trans-regional movement of vegetables, leading to an increase in wholesale vegetable prices nationwide from $4. 77/kg in august to $5. 23/kg in september, an increase of nearly 10 per cent。
A large number of vegetables are expected to be on the market in half a month
The cucumber price has begun to fall
In fact, recent increases in vegetable prices have occurred not only in shandong but also in many parts of the country. On 23 august, the average price of 28 vegetables monitored by the ministry of agriculture and rural development was $6. 13/kg, an increase of 0. 3 per cent over 22 days. In terms of weekly prices, the price of vegetables reached $4. 91/kg during the 30th week (22-28 july) of this year, the highest value for the same period in almost 10 years。
“from 20 july onwards, with the increase in rainfall, we began to focus on the increase in prices of cucumbers, cabbage, etc., by strengthening daily monitoring, movement control of vegetable prices and conducting weekly data analysis studies.” the president of the chamber of commerce, wang haitao, a member of the business bureau of the sunlight city party, revealed to journalists that the current daily trade volume of the sunlight agricultural logistics park is approximately 5000-6000 tons, an increase over july and largely at the same time as in previous years。
Journalists have learned from official sources that there are 3,800 regular temperature stalls and cargo tables at the sunlight agricultural logistics park, and that 100,000 cubic metres of cold storage can be used for vegetable reserves, providing adequate guarantees for the “basket” supply. After short-term shocks and seasonal effects recede, prices are expected to gradually stabilize. About half a month later, green leaves from hebei and the north-eastern provinces will be on the market. On the other hand, there are not a few growers who have planted vegetables like liu sang-yung, and in two months they will be ready to market their vegetables. In addition, as a result of a large number of full price stabilization measures, prices fell in late august in many areas and are expected to return to normal levels in mid-september。
According to monitoring by the ministry of agriculture and rural development, the wholesale price index for agricultural products stood at 130. 71 on 30 august, down 0. 02 points from 29 august, and the wholesale price index for food basket products was 133. 45 points, down 0. 02 points from 29 august. From 19 to 25 august 2024, the average wholesale price of 28 vegetables per kilogram, which was mainly monitored, was $6. 10 per kilogram, an increase of 5. 5 percentage points less than the previous week。
On 30 august, the price of cucumbers fell to $2. 98 per pound in some places, such as shandong lubo。
