Bitter cold spells in recent days have badly affected agriculture, leading to a shortage of fresh vegetables and an increase in retail prices in Hanoi .
The volume of available vegetables has reduced significantly in the last two days at the North Thang Long and Kim Nguu wholesale markets.
Nguyen Van Chuc, a wholesaler, said the weather is to blame for the bad harvest and the subsequent shortage of vegetables.
The price of vegetables has surged by 20-30 percent compared with that before the cold spells, Chuc said.
At present, the price is at 4,000 VND per tuber of kohlrabi, 8,000 VND per bundle of water dropwort, 6,000 VND per bundle of watercress, 5,000-7,000 VND per kilo of cabbage and 7,000 VND per kilo of tomatoes.
Vegetable prices have also increased by 5-10 percent in supermarkets.
Most vegetable traders expect the price to increase due to high demand for the Lunar New Year.
Meanwhile, meat and seafood retailers said prices have remained unchanged but are likely to rise for the same reason./.
