According to the voice of rural China - The Agriculture, Rural and Farmer magazine - vegetable varieties sold in the market are gradually getting becoming more diverse the weather gets warmer. After the Chinese New Year holiday, the price of leafy vegetables dropped significantly, while the price of root vegetables rose.
There are several reasons behind this. First of all, the big price drop of leafy vegetables was mainly due to the abundant supply and short shelf life. Among which, leek prices decreased by 18% and spinach fell by 12%. Secondly, the rise in root vegetables prices was attributed to the tight supply. And root vegetables’ future price tend to rise as the market stocks gradually reduce. Thirdly, a price recovery was seen in some varieties which were in decline before the holiday, e.g. the tomato price rose by 5% after the holidays.
The holiday effect is the main reason affecting vegetable prices. It is usually the peak season for vegetable markets before the Chinese New Year. People like to purchase seasonal vegetables ahead of the holiday, and the market consumption sees a significant increase accordingly. In addition, winter vegetable production is limited, and the costs of labor and logistics increase as well, so that vegetables prices usually tend to rise sharply before the holiday. Along with the increasing supply, vegetables prices will gradually return to their normal levels.
Source: www.cnr.cn