Named an unexpected reason for the fall in prices for cucumbers: growing daylight hours

Galloping prices for cucumbers since the beginning of January have moderated their ardor, falling by 7.6%. As a result, Rosstat recorded general deflation in February, which has not been seen this month for at least ten years. According to experts, the situation is related to the peculiarities of greenhouse production of cucumbers in the winter: at some point, with an increase in daylight hours, there is no need for increased electricity consumption, respectively, the final product becomes cheaper.

Sudden deflation manifested itself in the week of February 21-27, amounting to minus 0.02%. The figure is quite microscopic, but still a minus, not a plus – which is already an achievement for our prices! Prices for fruits and vegetables turned out to be the driver of cheaper prices, which decreased by 0.8% on average. As for cucumbers, they fell in the range of 0.6-10% in 46 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and in another 24 regions – by 10.1-21.8%.

And it would be possible to throw bonnets into the air with joy for cucumbers that have reduced the cost, if not for the fact that earlier, in January-February, this vegetable became the leader in the rise in price (plus 43%) among all food products, mainly due to the seasonal rise in prices for energy resources. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, wholesale prices for cucumbers in early February reached 133.8 rubles per kilogram – 15.3% more than last year. Natural factors have affected: at this time, a minimum of sun enters the greenhouses, and the ripening process is slower. Production is falling and supplier costs are rising. At the same time, self-sufficiency in this vegetable in our country reaches 95% (last year, 850 thousand tons of greenhouse cucumbers were produced in Russia), small volumes come only from Belarus, China, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan.

According to the executive director of the Fruit and Vegetable Union Andrey Kazakov, in the autumn-winter period, cucumbers are supplied mainly from greenhouse complexes with supplementary lighting. This innovative, but at the same time expensive technology allows you to grow vegetables all year round. Of the total area of ​​greenhouses of 3.1 thousand hectares, only 1 thousand hectares fall on farms with supplementary lighting. Since energy tariffs have been increased by 9% since the beginning of the year, this immediately affected the cost, in which the share of electricity costs reaches 50-60%.

Other components of production also increased in price – imported (mainly European) fertilizers, seeds, packaging lines, packaging equipment, protective equipment. In addition, deliveries go to Russia by more and more tortuous, and therefore costly, logistics routes.

“Growing cucumbers all year round is a terribly expensive undertaking,” says Vasily Uzun, chief researcher at the RANEPA Center for Agricultural Policy. – Today, the majority of the population is accustomed to seeing them on their table at any time – even in January, even in August. But before our people consumed them exclusively in the summer season. Accordingly, in order to satisfy this demand at the time of short daylight hours and severe cold weather, it is necessary to provide domestic greenhouses with proper heating and lighting levels. The costs are huge. In general, the cost of cucumbers is not the price of milk for you, which does not change at all in chain stores. For cucumbers, it is extremely volatile, and in winter it often rises by tens of percent, which, taking into account various seasonal factors, is absolutely in the order of things.”

Well, with the approach of spring, due to the increase in daylight hours, greenhouse complexes without additional illumination are included in the work, and their products begin to enter the market. As Uzun notes, the peak of prices for vegetables (not only cucumbers) traditionally falls on January and the first half of February, then, as a rule, these products only get cheaper.

“Market prices are always determined by the balance of supply and demand,” says Dmitry Leonov, deputy chairman of the board of the Rusprodsoyuz association. “They are declining for the simple reason that mass fruiting began in greenhouses without artificial light, which, in turn, led to an increase in supply.”

Recall that a couple of weeks ago, the Ministry of Agriculture, concerned about the price rally in the fruit and vegetable market, voiced the idea of ​​reducing import duties on cucumbers and tomatoes. It is unlikely that it will be implemented taking into account current realities. Experts interviewed by MK questioned the advisability of this step: in their opinion, it is fraught with long-term negative consequences – a drop in demand for domestic products, a reduction in the country’s tax base, the creation and consolidation of unequal conditions for Russian and foreign manufacturers.