Today in Kazakhstan there are prerequisites for an increase in prices for vegetables. However, farmers themselves note a decrease in cost due to falling demand. This was told to LS by professional participants.
The pandemic and the Kordai events affected all areas of business. The agricultural complex is no exception. As representatives of the Metro Cash & Carry retail chain told LS, the vegetable harvest has not yet been fully harvested, but the country already has serious prerequisites for an increase in prices, in particular, for socially important goods: potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots.
“In the second half of March, when the season for planting vegetables and fruits traditionally starts in many regions of the country, a state of emergency was introduced. Due to the fact that many farmers employ foreign workers, whose labor costs are cheaper than local ones, and because of the quarantine they were not able to enter the country, the cost of paying wages to employees increased. Moreover, the planting of vegetables and fruits was delayed due to traffic restrictions, ” the retail chain said.
Moreover, the contribution to the price increase will bring the rate of foreign currency as from abroad are purchased fertilizers, technical equipment, etc.
Representatives of Metro Cash & Carry also called riots in the Korday district of Zhambyl region another factor. Because of them, the country is expected to have a shortage of onions.
“This is due to the fact that farmers from the Kordai district are mainly engaged in growing onions in Kazakhstan. However, due to the events that occurred there in February-March of this year, not everyone was able to plant onions. Therefore, this fact would have an impact on its deficit and, consequently, a price increase for this species. We are already seeing a 30% increase in prices compared to the same period last year. Farmers are not able to provide buyers with last year’s prices, ” the retail chain told LS.
By the way, according to the data of the statistics Committee, most onions in Kazakhstan are collected in the Zhambyl region – 549.6 thousand tons at the end of 2019. Among the districts of the region, the largest volumes fall on Shu – 273.3 thousand tons, Zhambyl-123.1 thousand tons, Korday-80.6 thousand tons and Baizak districts-59.1 thousand tons.
At the same time, Executive Director of the local communities Fund of Enbekshikazakh district of Almaty region Bakytgul Elchibaeva told about how the pandemic has affected local farmers. According to her, in July-August 2020, the physical volume of vegetables delivered by farms in this area decreased by 40% compared to the same period in 2019. And selling prices for the same period decreased by 30%.
“The decline in prices was affected by a drop in demand, because many things did not work because of the coronavirus: cafes, restaurants. The distribution organizations to which we supply vegetables did not fully operate either. The prices of our farmers, on the contrary, have decreased, that is, their increase does not come from us, ” said LS Yelchibayeva.
Moreover, according to its data, the profit of farmers in the Enbekshikazakh district has halved.
“Last year, in July-August, we delivered vegetables for 17-20 million tenge. And in July-August of this year, our sales amounted to only 9 million tenge, which is half as much. In addition, this year increased costs due to the construction of greenhouses with a focus on demand, which we had in the previous year. We have invested so much with the hope that the demand will be the same as last year,” explained Elchibaeva.
The average volumes of each local farmer also decreased. According to the results of July-September 2019, farms on average supplied vegetables for 5-6 million tenge, and this year the figure does not exceed 1-2 million tenge. Yelchibayeva found it difficult to answer about the total volume for July-September 2020, but for these three months of 2019, farmers of the Enbekshikazakh district handed over vegetables for 33 million tenge.
The situation was aggravated by the weakening of the national currency. According to Yelchibayeva, farmers prefer to buy Dutch seeds because of their quality. However, prices in tenge terms increased by 20% compared to last year. The weakening of the tenge also affected the cost of fertilizers, but local farms are trying to buy Kazakh and Russian products.
Recall that by the end of August, food products in Kazakhstan have risen in price for the year by 10.9%. At the same time, the Minister of trade and integration Bakhyt Sultanov stated that the price increase for socially important goods will not exceed 6% by the end of 2020.
A source: https://lsm.kz/vyrastut-li-ceny-na-ovoshi-v-kazahstane
