It is now the harvesting season for good ripe tomatoes. That being said, the situation is quite different in a few townships in Jingtai county in Gansu province. The abundant tomato harvest there brings concerns for the vegetable farmers. The tomato price dropped below 0.2 RMB per kilogram this year. That is in stark contrast with the 4 RMB for a kilogram of tomatoes last year. The 267 hectares of tomatoes are now very difficult to sell. Some of the main reasons that caused the stagnated sales are bad decisions by the farmers, an overabundant production amount and harmful low temperatures.
There are three main reasons why the price is so low. First of all the price of tomatoes was high last year. A kilo was sold for up to 5 RMB, making it the highest price in almost two decades. Farmers actively cultivated tomatoes after that. The cultivation surface more than doubled. A second reason is the frost damage from May 15 this year. The seedlings were damaged and the sprouts showed different degrees of deformities and bad quality. As a result the overall price is low. Third and lastly is the fact that recent temperatures were high. The tomatoes collectively went ripe, but they only have a short storage time. This results in tomatoes from the neighbouring areas all going on sale at the same time, which pushes the prices down even further.
Source: www.gansudaily.com