More than 1,560 supermarkets around the country are to sell imported and domestically produced cabbages at a low price after the average wholesale price for vegetables hit NT$63.7 per jin (斤, 600g) ahead of the arrival of Super Typhoon Krathon today, the Agricultural and Food Agency said yesterday.
An imported cabbage costs about NT$75, while a locally grown cabbage costs NT$120, the agency said, adding it would adjust the supply based on consumer demands.
Starting today, the special offer is available at 1,211 PX Marts, 20 RT-Marts, 14 A-Marts, 67 Carrefour wholesale stores and 250 Carrefour supermarkets, the agency said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Agency deputy director-general Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said that the rising vegetable prices would not affect the supply of school lunches, as school lunch ingredients come from contracted farms.
High vegetable prices have persisted in Taiwan since it was hit by Typhoon Gaemi in July, he said.
“When farmers were about to harvest the vegetables grown after Gaemi, extremely heavy rainfall during the second half of last month led to flooding of farmlands,” Yao said. “It was followed by hot and humid weather, which affected the growth of vegetables as well.”
The vegetable supply is also unstable as the nation is transitioning from summer to fall, when farmers change the vegetables they grow.
Meanwhile, the retail price of some flowers is also soaring. The price of chrysanthemum has risen to NT$45 per stem from NT$20, though the prices of orchids and other greenhouse flowers are relatively stable, Yao said.
Underwriters tend to pay higher prices for chrysanthemums and other flowers that are grown outdoors, as they expect these flowers to be affected by typhoons, Yao said, adding that flower farmers can reduce damage by harvesting flowers early.
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