Why did the price of green vegetables in Nghe An increase sharply?

In traditional markets, vegetable prices have increased sharply for more than a month now and the variety is not as rich as before. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Around mid-June until now,Vegetables set new price levelsWhen gasoline prices continuously increased, the price of green vegetables increased by 20-30%. After 4 times of gasoline price reduction, vegetable prices remained high, some types increased 2-3 times such as: green onions, Malabar spinach, hot peppers... Specifically, currently, squash costs 20,000 VND/kg (increased 5,000 VND/kg compared to before); sweet cabbage, hot cabbage 30,000 - 35,000 VND/kg (increased 5,000 - 7,000 VND/kg compared to before); Malabar spinach 10,000 - 12,000 VND/bunch (increased 5,000 - 6,000 VND/bunch); green onions increased to 45,000 - 50,000 VND/kg; cauliflower 60,000 VND/kg; Green beans cost 40,000 VND/kg, lettuce costs 50,000 VND/kg.

The prices of vegetables are more stable, only slightly increased such as: carrots: 20,000 VND/kg; potatoes 20,000 VND/kg; okra 20,000 VND/kg... Particularly, water spinach is in harvest season so the price is cheaper by 5-7,000 VND/bunch; squash 7,000 VND/kg.

Many types of vegetables have increased in price by 2-3 times. Specifically, various types of cabbage are now priced at 30,000-35,000 VND/kg; cauliflower is priced at 60,000 VND/kg. Photo: Thanh Phuc

At supermarkets,clean food store, the prices of the following types also increased compared to before. Accordingly, the prices of leafy vegetables increased by about 30-40%, such as mustard greens, spinach, and jute; while the prices of root vegetables increased by 15-20%. Most of the vegetables here are imported from cooperatives producing clean vegetables, organic vegetables, and VietGAP vegetables in Da Lat and Moc Chau. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc, owner of a chain of clean food stores in Vinh city, said: "The import prices of vegetables this time increased, so the selling prices were also adjusted to increase accordingly."

The reason for the sudden increase in vegetable prices is due to limited supply. Unfavorable weather conditions in May brought unseasonal rains that caused flooding, causing vegetables to rot and wilt. Then, there were consecutive periods of intense heat and Lao winds, making it difficult for vegetables to grow, forcing many vegetable growing areas to switch to drought-resistant crops. Meanwhile, some types of fruits and vegetables that were in peak harvest season had crop failures.

The reason is that the weather is unfavorable, so the supply is scarce. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, an agricultural officer of Nam Anh commune (Nam Dan) said: "In previous years, this was the time to harvest passionflower, but this year, this crop had a bad harvest so only a few areas were able to harvest. This time, there were only eggplant, sweet melon, and bitter melon, while leafy vegetables were very scarce. Due to the hot weather and Lao wind, leafy vegetables could not grow."

In the "vegetable barn" of Quynh Luu, a place with a tradition of producing vegetables all year round, at this time, vegetables are also scarce due to the hot weather. Ms. Ho Thi Minh, a vegetable grower in Quynh Minh (Quynh Luu) said: "My family has nearly 1 sao of land growing various types of vegetables. In early June, my family planted mustard greens, sweet mustard greens, and Chinese cabbage, but due to the hot weather, the vegetables had their leaves damaged, were poorly developed, required a lot of care and watering, and the vegetables only yielded half of what they had before. Traders placed orders but there were no vegetables to sell."

To supply vegetables to the market, irrigation must be done regularly, consuming electricity. In addition, the increasing prices of fertilizers and vegetable seeds have affected the cost of vegetables. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition, the prices of materials, fertilizers, and vegetable seeds have all increased. In addition, the need to continuously pump water to irrigate consumes a lot of electricity, forcing vegetable producers to raise their selling prices to ensure profit. Meanwhile, the price of gasoline has decreased, but the transportation cost has not been adjusted down, so the price of vegetables remains high.

To meet people's consumption needs, vegetable growing areas in the province are actively planting and caring for vegetables that have been planted to ensure supply to the market.

Currently, green squash is in full harvest season and the price is quite cheap. Therefore, at this time, people can switch to using tubers and fruits to reduce spending. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Therefore, theshortage of green vegetablesonly seasonal and local. At this time, people can switch to using tubers and fruits that are in harvest season with cheap prices to adapt to spending.