China’s ministry of commerce is urging major supermarket chains to boost vegetable sales and encouraging farmers to protect their incomes by not selling to middle men, as fresh produce prices there slide.
According to a report in the China Daily, 12 major supermarket chains, including international retailers Walmart and Carrefour, have agreed to help with the initiative.
The ministry has also set up a work group with the goal of maintaining prices at a level that will protect the viability of farming operations.
The moves underscore the problems China’s government faces in controlling volatile price fluctuations, the newspaper reported.
Vegetable prices have fallen 21 per cent in the last month, according to the newspaper, with the most significant falls in the price of green pepper, which fell 20.9 per cent since last week, while cabbage, chilli pepper, and lettuce fell 12 per cent, 8.9 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively.
Last year the government pushed for primary producers to raise output, which appears to have caused over production and a drop in prices, the newspaper speculated.
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