The main reason is the reduction of quality onion stocks. According to expert estimates, there are about 1.5-2 thousand tons of onions left. The product stocks are dispersed in lots of several dozens to several hundred tons among one or two dozen specialized vegetable farms. This volume of goods on the domestic market of the country will be dispersed in about two – maximum three weeks.
According to traders, in urban chain retailers in Moldova there is already a significant amount of onions imported from Odessa region of Ukraine and packaged by local intermediaries. Externally, it differs from Moldovan onions by its large and more or less unified size. By the way, the product looks good enough on the outside, but inside it can be spoiled. The problem is that Ukrainian vegetable growers have the same problem as Moldovan vegetable growers – they grow mostly onion varieties that are not suitable for long-term storage.
According to market operators, onions will grow more expensive tentatively until the end of the first decade of June, when winter onions of the new harvest will start to arrive on the Moldovan market. To what extent the price will increase, apparently, depends on the traders’ desire (with emphasis on the growth of costs, especially logistics), as well as the purchasing power of the population. Onions are not potatoes, you cannot eat a lot of them. That is, the demand for this product (of daily, but not large consumption) is limited.
“Moldova, like many European countries, needs to build up specialized storage capacities for “borscht set” vegetables, change the assortment in favor of long shelf life varieties, improve agro-technology – crop rotation, nutrition and plant protection schemes,” summarizes the current situation Serghei Alba, Expert Agroteh’s exprette.
