Extended rainfall causes vegetable price hikes in Japan

Prices of vegetables such as cucumbers, leeks and lettuce are up in Japan due to extensive rainfall and a lack of sunshine nationwide. Sources have said that the impact of the long rainfall has not been fully factored into cucumber and lettuce prices, and there is room for further price increases. The price of cucumbers grown in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, jumped 2.1-fold from the previous week to 381 yen per kilogram at the Tokyo central wholesale market Aug. 13-19. The prices of leeks from the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki and lettuce from the central prefecture of Nagano rose by 1.9-fold to 356 yen and by 1.8-fold to 234 yen, respectively. Retail prices also went up all over the country, with cucumbers selling at 557 yen per kilogram Aug. 16-18, up 21 pct from a week before, leeks 422 yen, up 6 pct, and lettuce 764 yen, up 2 pct. The Japan ...