After the eleventh long holiday, many ordinary people found that the price of vegetables had risen.
On October 26, at a press conference on epidemic prevention and control in Beijing, officials confirmed this fact. Wang Hongcun, a first-level inspector of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that due to a variety of factors, the price of vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, in Beijing continued to rise after the eleventh. From October 1 to 25, the average wholesale price of vegetables in Beijing rose by 39.8% month-on-month. Some leafy vegetables and fresh and tender vegetables rose more sharply, some by more than 50% or more.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the average weekly price of 28 vegetables monitored in the 42nd week of 2021 (October 18-24) was 5.57 yuan per kilogram, up 8.8% month-on-month and up for five consecutive weeks.
How much has it gone up?
Spinach, cucumbers and other vegetables have become the "new upstart" in the market, and the retail price of spinach in some areas exceeds 15 yuan per catty, and cucumbers are also nearly 10 yuan a catty.
The rise in the price of vegetables begins when the vegetables are collected in the field. In the Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market, Mr. Xu, who has 7 years of experience in vegetable wholesale, said that compared with the usual purchase price of more than 2 yuan a catty, the purchase price of spinach has risen to 6 yuan a catty, which has never been seen before.
Villagers inspect the growth of vegetables at the ecological agriculture demonstration base in Xidi Village on October 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun
Since the week of September 19, the weekly index of the Shouguang Vegetable Price Index, known as the barometer of China's vegetable prices, has risen for four consecutive weeks, with leafy vegetables and nightshade vegetables rising more.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the average weekly price of 28 kinds of vegetables monitored in the 42nd week of 2021 (October 18-24) was 5.57 yuan per kilogram, up 8.8% month-on-month, for 5 consecutive weeks. In terms of varieties, the prices of 26 kinds of vegetables rose and 2 kinds fell, of which the price of cauliflower rose significantly, up 27.8% month-on-month. The average weekly price of pork wholesale market in the same period was 20.20 yuan per kilogram, up 8.8% month-on-month.
In the 37th week of a month ago (September 13-19), the average weekly price of the 28 vegetables monitored was 4.48 yuan per kilogram. In terms of varieties, the prices of 15 kinds of vegetables fell, 1 kind of vegetables were flat, and 12 kinds of vegetables rose. The average weekly price of pork in the wholesale market during the same period was 19.95 yuan per kilogram.
Why the rise?
According to industry analysts, October is in the summer vegetable market, autumn and winter vegetables have not yet been listed in large quantities of "green and yellow" period. Coupled with the rapid cooling and rain this year, the growth of vegetables in major production areas is slow, and the production of vegetables in some areas is reduced after being flooded by rainwater, and the market supply is reduced, resulting in a significant increase in vegetable prices.
Wang Hongcun introduced that due to the influence of several cold waves in the north, the relevant varieties of vegetables in the north that could be supplied for a period of time were delisted in advance.
On October 25, at the Shijiazhuang Qiaoxi Vegetable Center Wholesale Market, merchants packed vegetables into boxes. Recently, in response to the current epidemic, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, has taken a variety of measures to strengthen market monitoring, organize the allocation of goods through multiple channels, stabilize market supply, and ensure the daily consumption needs of citizens. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Luo Xuefeng
Liu Tong, head of the Market Statistics Department of Beijing Xinfadi, analyzed that taking spinach in the Beijing market as an example, affected by continuous rainfall, the spinach produced in Liaocheng, Shandong Province, was soaked, and it was impossible to arrange for farmers to replant in time, and could only rely on follow-up greenhouse production to ensure supply, but the spinach produced in greenhouses would take a while to be listed. At present, only a small amount of greenhouse spinach in Liaoning and other places can be listed, and the supply has been greatly reduced, resulting in high vegetable prices.
In addition, since the beginning of this year, the prices of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. have risen, driving up the cost of vegetable planting; oil prices have continued to rise, which has led to an increase in transportation costs, which has also boosted the price of vegetables.
All localities have spoken out to ensure stable supply and stable prices
From the perspective of vegetable supply fundamentals, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the area of vegetables in the field in the country is about 100 million mu, which is slightly increased year-on-year, and there is good support for maintaining the balance between supply and demand.
Zhang Jing, an associate researcher at the Agricultural Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that with the resumption of vegetable production, some vegetables that have been postponed from listing are concentrated on the market, and the prices of some varieties may also fall, but continuous rainfall has affected the colonization of stubble vegetables in some places in autumn and winter, and there may be situations such as poor connection between stubble and mouth, and it is expected that the overall price of vegetables in winter is high.
Zhang Yao, a vegetable analyst at the Agricultural Products Division of Shanghai Steel Union, also believes that vegetable prices will remain high in the short term, and when some vegetables in the southern production areas are listed in November, vegetable prices will fall to a certain extent, but the overall price will be higher than in previous years.
On October 24, at the Wanhui Farmers' Wholesale Market in Hohhot, citizens were shopping for vegetables. Recently, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, coordinated large-scale agricultural products wholesale markets, supermarkets, logistics and distribution enterprises, increased the transportation and distribution capacity of civilian biological resources, and ensured market supply. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Yuan
All localities have begun to take positive measures to ensure supply and price stability.
Beijing Xinfadi Market organized 3 million mu of self-owned planting bases and merchants across the country to increase the allocation of vegetables into Beijing and develop new sources of goods. Zhejiang Yongkang a farmers' trade city increased efforts to organize vegetable procurement.
Jiangxi Nanchang has also organized professional technicians to go deep into the fields to carry out pest control, and the city's major vegetable planting bases have also urgently dispatched additional manpower to increase the supply of vegetables, so as to achieve full harvest and rapid marketing.
Tang Ke, director of the Department of Market and Information Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that in the next step, we will work with relevant departments to implement the "green channel" policy for the transportation of fresh and live agricultural products, smooth the passage of materials to the countryside and agricultural products out of the village and into the city; strengthen market information monitoring and early warning, and timely release price and supply and demand information; implement the "vegetable basket" mayor responsibility system, do a good job in autumn vegetable production, and effectively ensure the production and supply of "vegetable basket" products. (【Financial Translator】 Li Tong/Wen)