How to respond to falling Chinese cabbage prices? Ordinary cabbage prices down 40% year-on-year

Editor's Note: As the saying goes: “Turnip at the Start of Winter, greens at Light Snow.” Right now, many areas in northern China are successively entering the period of large-scale napa cabbage market launches. Compared with last year, napa cabbage prices have fallen in many places this year, with declines in some areas approaching forty percent. What are the reasons causing the drop in napa cabbage prices this year, how are vegetable farmers' incomes, and what ideas are there to avoid vegetable prices going “through twists and turns” and wild swings? Our reporters filed reports from Shandong and Liaoning, focusing on the local napa cabbage market conditions. This edition also invited experts from the Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market to analyze from the perspective of “large-scale circulation,” hoping to inspire readers' thinking.

Liaoning: Off-peak market launches, stored napa cabbage prices rise slightly

Autumn napa cabbage has been concentrated on the market for some time. On November 10, when a reporter interviewed Xichazi Village, Huangniwa Town, Liaoyang County, Liaoning Province, the local Yingli Vegetable Planting Professional Cooperative happened to be purchasing large amounts of vegetables. Chairman Yin Youying said: “Our cooperative has contracted more than 3,000 mu of land for vegetables, at a minimum of 1,100 yuan per mu, mainly shipping to Guangzhou. Now we need to harvest thirty to forty mu a day, and in total we will harvest 5,000 mu continuously, working out to 3 mao per jin.”

Wu Bo's family in Xichazi Village planted more than ten mu of napa cabbage. His family's vegetables were sold a while ago, at 1,500 yuan per mu. “If we sold now, it wouldn't be this high; we'd earn two or three hundred yuan less per mu.”

During this vegetable-harvesting season, Yin Youying harvested about 10,000 tons in total and also stored seven or eight hundred tons, hoping to sell for a good price in winter. Driven by the Yingli Vegetable Planting Professional Cooperative, Huangniwa Town and its surrounding five townships together planted 40,000 mu of napa cabbage. Yin Youying said: “Prices fell quite a bit later, but the volume was not large. In the end there were 1,000 mu, at 1,000 yuan per mu, and the final few hundred mu even cost only 500 yuan. All told, the vegetables harvested later still worked out to 2 mao per jin.”

Shenyang is Liaoning's main napa cabbage production area and also its largest sales area. Wang Hongye, deputy director of the Planting Industry Division of the Shenyang Municipal Agricultural Commission, introduced that the Shenyang area plants 300,000 mu of napa cabbage, with total output of about 1.5 million tons. This year's output was quite good, and most had basically been sold earlier. This year's price is lower than last year's.

Xinmin City's napa cabbage planting area accounts for more than half of Shenyang's. A reporter learned from the Xinmin City Rural Economy Bureau that this year Xinmin's napa cabbage planting area was 173,400 mu, and the price was somewhat low, averaging 2 mao per jin. But because this year's drought increased farmers' planting costs, with water costs plus labor costs per mu increasing by 300 to 500 yuan, the actual return per mu was only a few hundred yuan.

Damin Tun Town focuses on developing the vegetable industry and has already formed a “one township, one industry” development pattern with vegetables as the leading industry. The town's total vegetable area has reached more than 90,000 mu, of which napa cabbage accounts for 30,000 mu. Damin Tun Town invigorates circulation through the market. In recent years it has built the Damin Tun Agricultural Products Logistics Center, with annual transaction volume of more than 200 million yuan, and it is quite famous in Northeast China and even nationwide.

He Lixing, president of the Shenyang Vegetable Circulation Association, told reporters: “Napa cabbage from surrounding areas and even the Heilongjiang region is hauled to Damin Tun for sale. At the very beginning of the market launch it could sell for 0.35 yuan/jin, and as the market volume increased, the price also fell, at its lowest reaching 0.15~0.18 yuan/jin. The napa cabbage sold outward through Damin Tun exceeds 1 billion jin.”

He Lixing said that last year napa cabbage prices were relatively high, so this year the area planted with napa cabbage increased quite a bit, and a large volume naturally caused prices to fall. At this year's prices, next year's napa cabbage planting area may shrink, and napa cabbage prices will rise. According to his estimate, when napa cabbage sells for seven or eight fen per jin, farmers will not lose money.

“This year Shenyang's napa cabbage prices are relatively better, also because the local napa cabbage industry chain has already formed, and there are already quite a few deep-processing enterprises. After the concentrated market launch, what is now sold at the Damin Tun market is all stored napa cabbage, at 3 mao per jin.” On November 21, He Lixing told reporters by telephone.

There are no specific statistics for Liaoning's provincewide napa cabbage planting area. It is understood that last year the province's vegetable planting area was 12.46 million mu, and this year it is basically flat.

Ordinary napa cabbage prices fall forty percent year-on-year

“Tangwang napa cabbage” uses its brand to escape difficulties

⟧ Han Laohan, a farmer in Kangjiazhuang Village, Tangwang Town, Licheng District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, has grown napa cabbage for more than 20 years. This year, his family planted 1 mu of napa cabbage. “This year's price really won't do. Selling to dealers at the market, it's only one mao four per jin, and they're very picky.”

Also growing napa cabbage, Chen Lihou, chairman of the Hongshengyu Melon and Vegetable Professional Cooperative, showed no worry on his face: “In our 60-mu base here, we joined the Tangwang Napa Cabbage Association, and when planting began, 20 mu were already contracted with supermarkets in Beijing, purchased at an order price of 5 mao per jin. As for the remaining 40 mu, most was also ordered at the ordering fair a few days ago.”

Fan Qingde, director of the Licheng District Agriculture Bureau, said that since entering November, napa cabbage prices have fallen all the way, and are now down forty percent from the same period last year. Through efforts in recent years, Tangwang napa cabbage has not only avoided difficulty in selling, but many growers have used the brand to escape difficulties. Ample supply, declining demand

Chen Lihou said that last year napa cabbage prices were relatively high, and this year many households in the village expanded their area. In addition, climate conditions in the second half of this year were very favorable for napa cabbage growth, with per-mu yields generally reaching eight or nine thousand jin, about 20% higher than last year.

“The expansion of napa cabbage planting area, increased per-unit yield, and ample supply have led to supply exceeding demand.” said Gao Zhongqiang, a researcher at the Shandong Provincial Agricultural Technology Extension General Station. At the same time, because this year's climate conditions were favorable for vegetable growth, there were many types of vegetables on the market and sufficient supply, leading to generally low vegetable prices. “Especially leafy vegetable prices, which have been running at a low level all year, and napa cabbage certainly cannot be an exception.”

Han Huiping, manager of the Hanxi Market in Tangwang Town, said that in recent years, as the area of protected vegetable cultivation has expanded, winter vegetables are complete in variety, and demand for winter storage of napa cabbage has also declined year by year.