A few dollars to buy a bunch of vegetables, why did vegetables fall out of the "cabbage price" this winter?

【People's Livelihood Survey Bureau】

Editor's note:

This is the People's Livelihood Investigation Bureau, which has never been seen before and investigates the changes in people's livelihood. Pay attention to what you want to follow, what you don't follow, investigate what you want to see and what you don't see.

Chinanews.com, December 12 (Zhongxin Financial Reporter Xie Yiguan) Recently, the low price of vegetables has attracted widespread attention.

"I bought 50 catties of radishes to pickle dried radish, and it only cost 10 yuan." "I haven't seen cabbage for 0.19 yuan a pound for many years, and it's really 'cabbage price'."

Many residents lamented that the price of vegetables this winter is so cheap, and people can't help but wonder, why can't vegetables be sold at a high price?

The price of Chinese cabbage hit a new low in the same period in recent years

Shandong is one of the main vegetable producing areas in the country. Mr. Wang, who lives in Jiaozhou, Shandong Province and often goes to the supermarket, told the Zhongxin financial reporter that this year's vegetables are much cheaper than last year, "like the recent Chinese cabbage 3 cents a pound, white radish 8 cents a pound, green radish 5 cents a pound, the price is relatively low." ”

Slightly more expensive than Mr. Wang's purchase, recently, the new financial reporter visited a number of supermarkets and vegetable markets in Beijing, the price of Chinese cabbage is concentrated between 5 cents and 1 yuan, and the price of white radish is mostly 1 yuan to 1.5 yuan.

Chinese cabbage in the supermarket. Photo by Chinanews reporter Xie Yiguan

"In previous years, there was no such cheap price." In a supermarket in Beijing's Xicheng District, a resident who was picking vegetables said, "Last year, Chinese cabbage was more than 1 yuan per catty. ”

coincided with the rush hour in the morning, and the reporter noticed that there was not much cabbage left in the supermarket.

The decline in the price of vegetables is also reflected in the statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

In November, the average wholesale price of vegetables was 11.3 yuan/kg, down 58.5% month-on-month and 1.3% year-on-year. Among the 9 vegetables monitored, the prices of spinach, Chinese cabbage, celery, cabbage and radish decreased by 19.26%, 6.26%, 4.18%, 5.16% and 2.12%, respectively.

Beijing's Xinfadi Market is the "vegetable basket" of the capital's citizens. Regarding the "cabbage price" reflected by many people, Liu Tong, a market analyst at Xinfadi, also told the Zhongxin Financial Reporter, "The price of Chinese cabbage in the market recently is the lowest point in the same period in the past five years." ”

Why did vegetable prices fall into a "trough" this winter?

In the face of low vegetable prices, some people ridiculed, "I bought a bunch of vegetables, spent a few dollars, and I couldn't spend 3,<> yuan a month." "Why are vegetable prices so low this winter?

"To put it simply, it's more vegetables." Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained to the China News Financial Reporter, "The weather was relatively warm in the early stage, which was conducive to the growth of vegetables. ”

Zhang Jing, chief vegetable analyst of the agricultural product market analysis and early warning team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, also mentioned that this autumn, the overall climatic conditions are suitable for the growth of vegetables, and the yield of vegetables has increased greatly, especially Chinese cabbage, with a yield increase of about 20%.

Under the increase in production, it coincided with the centralized listing of winter storage vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, radishes, and carrots, and official information showed that in November, the monthly output accounted for about 11%-15% of the annual output of these varieties.

In recent years, with the improvement of the supply of winter and spring vegetables in the north, residents' winter vegetable storage Xi has changed, from the past to purchase a large number of vegetables to buy as you eat, the perennial short-term centralized procurement has been greatly reduced, and the market is oversupplied, which in turn leads to a decline in prices.

However, affected by the cold wave in recent days, North China, Huanghuai and other places ushered in the first large-scale snowfall this winter.

"As the weather turns colder and transportation costs rise, the price of seasonal vegetables such as Chinese cabbage is estimated to stop falling, and the price of green leafy vegetables will also rise." Li Guoxiang said.

According to Liu Tong, in the past few days, affected by the weather, the price of Chinese cabbage has risen, and other vegetables have also begun to rise in recovery, "but due to the impact of stock, it is expected that the rise will not be too much." ”

Leafy greens in the supermarket. Photo by Chinanews reporter Xie Yiguan

The land prices of some vegetables have fallen below the cost

Faced with cabbage, radishes and green onions for a few cents a pound, some people are concerned, "How cheap will the price of vegetables in the field be, and can vegetable farmers still make money?" ”

The reporter noticed that compared with the retail price in the market, the price of vegetables has dropped more significantly.

According to the November data released by the Planting Industry Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, according to the fixed-point monitoring of vegetable land prices, the average price of 11 kinds of vegetables in November was 28.11 yuan/kg, down 2.43% month-on-month.

"In November this year, the head price of vegetables was 11.5% lower than the same period in the past five years, which was the second lowest in the past five years. The prices of some vegetable varieties are at the lowest level in five years, the average monthly head price of three kinds of vegetables such as cabbage, loofah, and green onion is the lowest in the same period in the past five years, and 17 kinds of vegetables such as celery, tomato, pumpkin, carrot, Chinese cabbage, zucchini, lotus root, and spinach are the lowest in the same period in the past three years. ”

The prices of some varieties have even fallen below the cost. "The average monthly head price of cabbage, Chinese cabbage, green onions, winter melon, pumpkin, carrots, etc. is 0.5-0.9 yuan/kg, which is more than 35% lower than the normal year. According to the China Vegetable Association, the price of Chinese cabbage in Yutian County, Hebei Province in early November was about 11.0 yuan/kg, which was only equivalent to the labor cost of harvesting, and some farmers directly abandoned the harvest. ”

Recently, Mr. Yue, a village cadre in Yucheng County, Anyang, Henan Province, just helped the vegetable farmers in the village sell 30 acres of eggplants and nearly 10 acres of cabbage.

He told reporters, "A few days ago, the eggplant in the vegetable farmer's cold shed was 6 cents a pound, and the cabbage was <> cents a pound. Because the price could not be sold, the vegetable farmers in the village did not want to lose money, so they hoarded goods for sale, resulting in unsalable vegetables, and later sold them through large-scale publicity. ”

As far as he knows, in order to grow crops, villagers in some places can only choose to sell the vegetables in their fields at a loss.

Data map: Villagers are harvesting white radish. Photo by Liu Yonghong

To ensure the income of vegetable farmers, relevant departments began to take action

"Expensive vegetables hurt the people, and cheap vegetables hurt farmers", the price of vegetables falling below the cost line will not only cause losses to vegetable farmers, but also dampen their enthusiasm for planting, which is not conducive to the stability of vegetable prices in the later stage. In the face of problems such as unsalable vegetables and difficulty in selling, relevant departments have begun to take action.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs deployed the current vegetable production and marketing work, requiring the improvement of the provincial and ministerial linkage working mechanism, building information, products, bases and other docking platforms, and improving the pertinence, accuracy and effectiveness of production and marketing docking. For vegetable varieties that may be difficult to sell unsalable, strengthen production and marketing docking services, and strive to ensure the income of vegetable farmers.

Henan is a major vegetable growing province in the country. According to media reports, in order to effectively reduce the losses of vegetable farmers and safeguard the interests of vegetable farmers, the Henan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has also formulated the "Work Plan for Strictly Preventing the Difficult Sale of Vegetables This Winter", proposing to do a good job in the management of vegetables in the field, find out the production and marketing situation, monitor and warn of price fluctuations, strengthen the docking of production and marketing, give full play to the role of warehousing and preservation, guide the processing of direct harvesting and storage, and strengthen product quality supervision.

"Regarding the production and marketing of vegetables, the relevant departments have made a lot of efforts and provided price information, but at present, the degree of organization of farmers is low, and there is blindness in planting." Li Guoxiang said that it is still necessary to organize farmers, set up professional associations and cooperatives, systematically understand market conditions, and adjust the scale of production according to climate change. In addition, it is also possible to develop deep processing industries to stabilize price fluctuations caused by centralized listing. (ENDS)