After an impressive rise in prices for vegetables of the "borsch set", producers began to decline - a new crop began to come in. However, the area of potato planting this year has not been increased, and carrots are still significantly more expensive than in 2020.
According to the Expert and Analytical Center for Agribusiness "AB-Center", the average wholesale prices for table beets as of June 25 amounted to 50,4 rubles per kg, having decreased by 13,4% over the week. And prices for Russian-made young potatoes over the same period fell by more than 30% to 20,7 rubles per kg. But beets are now almost four times more expensive than last year (12,8 rubles per kg).
Mass harvesting of potatoes is already underway in the south and partially in the center of the country, explains Alexey Krasilnikov, executive director of the Union of Potato and Vegetable Market Participants. However, in the Astrakhan region, which is considered the main supplier of young potatoes, the increase in the area under it turned out to be less than expected, the areas in the Moscow and Tula regions decreased. Therefore, the expected increase in harvest this year will not work, the expert said. According to the "Center of Agroanalytics" under the Ministry of Agriculture, as of July 5, potatoes were planted on 279,3 thousand hectares, or 96,2% of the forecasted area (in 2020 - 282,3 thousand hectares). “This is most likely due to the fears of farmers that there will be no one to harvest the crops - the problem with migrants has not been resolved,” says Krasilnikov.
According to him, the situation with regard to carrots also remains tense. Producer prices are now in the range of 64-65 rubles for both the old and the new harvest (the new one last week cost under 70 rubles per kg). Whereas last year they were a little more than 13 rubles per kg. According to the expert, producers' prices will decline within two weeks, and this will be reflected on store shelves within a month. However, Krasilnikov notes a trend towards a reduction in carrot acreage since 2016.
In early July, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said that inflation was starting to fizzle out, and he expected that the rapid rise in prices for vegetables of the "borscht set" would stop with the arrival of a new harvest.