December Marks the Off-Season for Vegetable Supply, Affected by Rain, Snow and Low Light

According to monitoring by the Ministry of Agriculture's Vegetable Production Information Network, vegetable supply in November was basically flat year-on-year, while farm-gate wholesale prices rose both month-on-month and year-on-year. In December, as the off-season for supply begins, North China, Northeast China and other areas are affected by prolonged haze, overcast skies and snowy weather, which is unfavorable for vegetable growth and development, and farm-gate wholesale prices are expected to continue rising.

Vegetable supply in November was basically flat year-on-year. The 580 key vegetable-producing counties' information monitoring sites reported vegetable output of 1.11 million tonnes, basically flat both year-on-year and month-on-month. This month, most of the central and eastern regions experienced prolonged low light, while most of Jiangnan and western and northern South China received excessive and intense rainfall, causing delayed growth of autumn and winter vegetables and a tight supply of some varieties. By region, the pattern showed "one increase, one decrease and four flat." The northern high-latitude summer-autumn vegetable advantage area saw output rise 15.4% year-on-year due to an increase in planted area; the Loess Plateau summer-autumn vegetable advantage area saw output fall 7.9% year-on-year; the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau summer-autumn vegetable advantage area, the South China and Southwest hot-zone winter-spring vegetable advantage area, the Huanghuaihai and Bohai Rim protected vegetable advantage area and the Yangtze River Basin winter-spring vegetable advantage area all saw output basically flat year-on-year. By type, among 20 categories of vegetables, output of 5 categories including head cabbage, cowpea, cauliflower, carrot and chili pepper rose more than 3% year-on-year; output of 4 categories including winter melon, common bean, cucumber and Chinese chives fell more than 3% year-on-year; and output of the remaining categories was basically stable.

In November, farm-gate wholesale prices for vegetables rose both month-on-month and year-on-year. As vegetable production entered the off-season, prices showed an upward trend. In November, the average farm-gate wholesale price of vegetables at the 580 key vegetable-producing counties' information monitoring sites was 3.30 yuan/kg, up 7.1% year-on-year and up 11.9% month-on-month. The average prices in the first, middle and last ten days of the month were 3.04 yuan/kg, 3.25 yuan/kg and 3.62 yuan/kg respectively. By variety, 15 vegetables including cucumber, round eggplant, climbing common bean, hotbed chives, zucchini, red chili pepper, green pepper, fruit cucumber, green Chinese chives, dwarf common bean, long eggplant, green chili pepper, bell pepper, tomato and white-skinned winter melon rose more than 10% month-on-month, while 6 vegetables including celtuce, Chinese cabbage, celery, white-skinned garlic bulbs, celery and radish fell more than 10% month-on-month, and prices of other varieties were basically stable.

In December, both temperature and light are unfavorable for vegetable growth and development, and prices are expected to continue rising. According to statistics, at the end of November, the area of vegetables in the field at the 580 key vegetable-producing counties' information monitoring sites was 1.2 million mu, basically flat year-on-year and down 12.7% month-on-month. Among these, the area in the field at the end of the month for 4 categories including zucchini, cauliflower, carrot and common cabbage rose more than 3% year-on-year. Experts analyzed that in December, temperatures are getting lower and lower and daylight hours are becoming shorter, which is unfavorable for vegetable growth and development, and farm-gate wholesale prices are expected to continue rising. Last month, North China and Northeast China experienced sustained haze, overcast skies and snowy weather, which affected the volume of protected vegetables reaching the market this winter, and the supply of solanaceous fruit vegetables is expected to be tight in the later period.