July 31 2006, 15:31

The price for medium cabbage varieties is significantly lower this year than in 2005 in Ukraine

The price for medium cabbage varieties has been quite high in recent years in Ukraine; it usually exceeded the price for early cabbage varieties. The reason for such situation was shortage of this type of produce on market. Producers of early cabbage try to have harvest as soon as possible. Whose farmers who produce cabbage in open ground want to have as attractive vegetables as possible. They need cabbage for long-term storage, so those farmers choose for late cabbage varieties. So, the deficit for cabbage forms on market and leads to price growth. The price for medium cabbage variety used to exceed two-fold and more the price for early and late cabbage varieties.

Such situation has been repeating for several years, so the producers at last have paid attention to it. This year the cultivation area of medium cabbage varieties is much larger than in previous years. According to estimations of the Agricultural Marketing Project, the acreage growth constituted 20-35% for medium cabbage varieties. The increased production of medium cabbage resulted in significant price decrease. However, the price is still 10-20% higher than the price for early cabbage.

According to data of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal, as of today cabbage is sold for an average price $0.09/kg on Ukrainian wholesale markets. At the same period of time past year the price for cabbage fluctuated within $0.31-0.39/kg.