China’s economic growth has been steadily increasing, while its vegetable prices have mimicked the upwards trajectory. CCTV reporter Zhang Bo goes in search of answers to the problem of sky-rocketing veggie prices.
If you live in China and cook at home, no doubt you can sense the increasing prices of vegetable. Last year it was garlic and gingers that rocked a lot; this year it’s the green onions that becomes so hot. Now it’s not People Eating Them, the fact is they are Eating People.
She said we have no way out but to accept this trend. With everybody chattering on 10 Yuan for 2 green onions, what are the main reasons behind the scene?
This is one of the wholesalers in a vegetable market; she said last year many farmers chose to grow garlic and ginger over green onions. So the yield of onion this year has largely decreased, which greatly pushed up the price.
According to her, another reason is that the snowfalls have affected the logistic process and the wholesalers can’t get enough supply.
Mu Yueying, professor of the School of Economic Management of China Agricultural University, explains her understanding towards this matter. Mu Yueying said, "In fact, the cold weather last winter and this spring has caused there to be fewer green onions, and cold weather, disease as well as harmful insects are also the main reasons of the reduced production. "
Mu said some traders chose to not store fresh green onions at the end of last year. That resulted in a lack of green onions at markets at a time when the spring variety was still growing. And there are something more.
Mu Yueying said, "The root cause of the higher prices is that the supply of green onions has fallen behind the demand for them, especially for this round of green onions’ sharp rising. I think it’s the government’s duty to build a nationwide platform to allow farmers to share timely accurate market information, so that farmers can become the deciders of when and what to grow; and the market can avoid significant changes in supply and demand. "
