Volatile weather leaves agricultural products prices in state of flux

The recent deadly downpours are taking an alarming toll on prices of agricultural products which have already soared due to a heatwave.

Crop prices such as red lettuces and spinach have skyrocketed due to recent heavy downpours. A woman is seen looking over the vegetable section of a supermarket in Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

The recent deadly downpours are taking an alarming toll on prices of agricultural products which have already soared due to a heatwave.

The heavy rains have damaged 31,000 hectares (76,603 acres) of farmland while 35 hectares of farm installations were damaged. Over 797,000 livestock, including chickens, ducks, cows and pigs died as a result of the floods, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Wednesday.

The overwhelming majority of livestock damage was related to chickens, which constituted 92.7 percent of 797,000 deaths.

Poultry that died accounted for just 0.66 percent of the total chicken population in Korea, according to Statistics Korea.

However, demand for chicken peaks during the summer vacation season and boknal, otherwise known as the three hottest days of summer between July and August, is when people enjoy samgyetang (chicken ginseng soup).

The wholesale prices of crops such as lettuce, spinach and perilla leaf have gone through dramatic upturns after the floods.

Red lettuce prices per 4 kilograms doubled to 83,520 won ($65) on Friday before the rain started on July 7, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. The price of green onion per kilogram rose 43 percent to 2,892 won during the same period, while the price of perilla leaf per 2 kilograms jumped 74 percent to 34,260 won. The price of spinach per 4 kilograms rose 64 percent to 55,660 won and the cost of yeolmu (young radish) per kilogram jumped 35 percent to 16,740 won.

Other factors, including autumn typhoons and high Chuseok consumer demand, could contribute to the seasonal increase for agricultural products after the rain subsides.

Such price shocks have led the government to provide a maximum 30 percent discount on agricultural products such as lettuce, spinach, perilla leaf and chicken until prices stabilize, according to Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho on Friday.

“The government will do its best to maintain the supply stability of crops and to not let damages from the heavy rain spill over to consumer prices,” Choo said.

“We will also actively support funds to provide evacuees with temporary accommodations, cover their immediate living expenses and also provide financial aids for the recovery of their homes.

“We will also speed up the insurance evaluation process so that farmers can quickly be compensated for their crop losses from the rain within a month from their application date.”

The ministry rolled out policies such as supporting the reseeding of damaged crops; more production and shipments of related crop substitutes; the rise of tariffs for 30,000 tons of imported chicken meat in August; and the import of 5 million hatching eggs to stabilize chicken supply.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]