Cabbage price is four times higher this month comparing to December 2004
Fortune smiled to cabbage producers this season. Though the harvest was not as good as hoped, price covered all the farmers' expenses and even let them earn profit. According to the prognoses of the Agricultural Marketing Project, cabbage yield decreased significantly, and its harvest 2005 was 5% less than in 2004 despite of the acreage extension. Prices would not go down lower than $ 0.17-0.19/kg even in the harvesting season. Still, only three months passed, that is not a problem to store cabbage well, but the wholesale price is kept on the level of $ 0.31-0.35/kg. The producers considered previous year to be successful enough; wholesale cabbage price was $ 0.08-0.09/kg in December 2004, i.e. 3-4 times lower than now. Of course, this year cabbage production cost increased a bit because of price increase on fuel, grown labor expenses, other resources, lower cabbage yield; but we can say for sure that the producers earned this year more.
On the second international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2005" Andriy Yarmak, the Deputy Director of the Agricultural Marketing Project said, that fruits and vegetables grew expensive this year because of the increased demand and lower production performed by private producers on houseplots and kitchen gardens. Onion, red beet, carrot, cabbage, potato grew expensive two and more times.