Pigeon prices are rising rapidly, and the farming market is continuing to heat up

While interviewing at an farmers' market in the city, I heard a complaint from a Mrs. Mo: “I went to visit a woman who had just given birth and bought a pair of pigeons. I never expected the price per bird to have risen another 5 yuan from the beginning of last month.” The reporter later learned from interviews at several farmers' markets that, with changes in the weather, pigeon prices have been rising all the way, up 20% from the beginning of November.

    There is a saying among the people of Shaoxing that "one pigeon is worth nine chickens." Squab is tender and delicious, the top choice among poultry foods, combining food and medicinal uses, and has always been in short supply. An operator selling pigeons in the market told the reporter that the recent pigeon market has shown a surge in sales and a trend of rising prices. Pigeons now cost 30 yuan each (pigeons are generally priced per bird), compared with about 25 yuan each at the beginning of November, while the price in the same period last year was 20 yuan each, an increase of 50% year on year. The main reason for the price increase is the continuous rise in consumption as the weather turns colder. After winter arrives, more and more people buy tonic foods, and pigeon, as a high-grade nutritional tonic, has also entered its peak sales season; in addition, every winter, the demand for squab from major guesthouses, hotels, hot pot restaurants and others is also increasing day by day; and when visiting patients, women who have just given birth and others, people generally choose pigeon as the preferred gift.

    Industry insiders believe that because Shaoxing residents increasingly accept pigeon as food, the supply of pigeons will become more and more tight, and this shortfall is growing year by year and will be difficult to ease in the short term, so pigeon prices have shown a trend of rising year by year in recent years. It is understood that this year market demand for pigeon has increased 15% year on year. In the pigeon market, the wholesale price of pigeons weighing more than 600 grams has risen from 15 yuan to 20 yuan, and the market retail price has risen from 25 yuan to 30 yuan. It is expected that from this year to 2008, the later market price for pigeons will still have considerable room to rise on the basis of around 25 yuan.