Rural areas could see Tet shortages
Rural areas could see Tet shortages
The supply of essential goods for the Tet festival is expected to be enough for the local market, though there might be shortages in rural and remote areas, experts said.
Vo Thanh Do, deputy head of the department of processing and trade for agro-forestry-fisheries products and salt production, said that there will be an estimated high volume of 1.5 million tonnes of rice available for the Tet festival in February.
The rice prices will be stable and even fall slightly by VND200 to VND300 per kilogram in the south due to the harvest season of the winter-spring rice crop.
The official from the Ministry Agriculture and Rural Development said that the demand for rice will reach an estimated 70,000 tonnes in Ha Noi and about 1,200 tonnes in HCM City for the Tet festival.
Supplies of fresh food such as meat and seafood are expected to be high, said Do.
Fresh food prices have been stable over the recent past, and could fall due to petrol price reductions, he added.
The livestock department said that in the first two months of this year, the total supply of meat, eggs and milk for Tet will increase by 20 per cent against normal months. The total output of meat has reached 580,000 tonnes.
Tong Xuan Chinh, deputy head of the livestock department, said that the rising demand for these products will lead to a slight increase in their prices. However, their supply will meet the local market demand.
The total area used for growing vegetables has reached 180,000 ha, 15,000 ha more than the same period last year, the department of plantation said.
Therefore, the supply of vegetables for the Tet festival will meet the local demand, if there is no bad weather.
However, there is likely to be a shortage of essential goods during Tet in some rural and mountainous areas as well as industrial zones, and so the state offices should regulate the market to ensure circulation of goods, said Do Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.
