Analysis and Outlook on the Vegetable Market Trends in Shanghai's Farm Gate Market for the First Half of 2024
As a mega city,the stable development of Shanghai's vegetable market is of significant importance for enhancing residents'quality of life and increasing farmers'income.This paper took four key monitored vegetables in Shanghai,represented by greens,as the research subjects to analyze the trends in their field prices.Overall,the field price trends of vegetables in the first half of 2024 were relatively stable.The field price of greens first rose then fell,decreasing year-on-year.The field price of water spinach experienced an initial rise,followed by a fall,and then another rise,also decreasing year-on-year.Lettuce field prices showed a"double peak and a trough,"with a year-on-year decrease.The field price of cabbage remained at a low level with gentle fluctuations,also decreasing year-on-year.The characteristics of vegetable price fluctuations in Shanghai mainly manifested as seasonal volatility,random fluctuations,and the differentiation of bumper and lean years.Affected by the expansion of mechanized production scale,seasonal factors,the bumper and lean year phenomenon,and rising production costs,vegetable field prices are expected to rise slightly in the second half of the year,with prices slightly lower than the same period last year on a year-on-year basis.Finally,suggestions for stabilizing the vegetable market were put forward from focusing on responses to extreme weather and other aspects.