The Rosselkhoznadzor recorded an increase in imports of garlic and ginger in the country over the past week. It is reported that the volume of imports of these products to the Russian territory has increased by two and 12 times, respectively.
The Federal service noted that the sharp increase in supplies coincided with the introduction of a self-isolation regime in the country.
“From 1 to 6 April 2020, Russia imported 2.4 tons fresh ginger, which is 12 times greater than the volume of imports over the same period last year (203 tons) and 84% of the total imports of the product during the previous three months”, stated in the message Rosselkhoznadzor on Wednesday, April 8, “from 1 to 6 April, the volume of garlic was almost 2.5 thousand tons compared to 1.2 thousand tonnes in the same period last year”.
The main supplier of fresh ginger to Russia is China. According to the service, China in the first quarter of this year increased the volume of deliveries to the Russian territory to 89%, and in the last week to 100%.
Garlic is also mainly supplied to Russia by China. From April 1 to 6, 74% of the volume of products delivered came from China, 22% or 559 tons were imported from Egypt, and another 4% (93 tons) — from Iran.
In addition to increasing the volume of supplies of garlic and ginger to Russia, the Rosselkhoznadzor has noted a sharp increase in imports of lemons to the country over the past week. According to the data provided by the service, from 1 to 6 April this year, compared to the same period last year, the supply of lemons to Russia increased “more than twice — from 4 to 1.8 thousand tons.” The key supplier of this fruit to the Russian territory today is Turkey.
Earlier on April 7, Turkey restricted the export of lemons until the end of the summer, Interfax reports. The Ministry of agriculture of Russia does not expect a shortage of this product on domestic markets. “These products can be replaced by supplies from other countries with which trade relations are established. We are talking about Argentina, Egypt, Brazil, and South African countries,” the Agency reported.
On April 6, the Federal Antimonopoly service reported that Russians began to complain about the rise in price of lemons, ginger and garlic. The service noted that the price increase is due to limited supplies from abroad amid the threat of spread of coronavirus infection and increased demand against the background of the epidemic of the disease.
On April 2, the world health organization (who) urged not to believe in the effectiveness of ginger in the treatment of COVID-19 coronavirus infection.
An outbreak of COVID-19 pneumonia caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus occurred in Wuhan, China, in late December. Outside of China, the disease has been diagnosed in patients in more than 180 countries. On March 11, the world health organization (WHO) declared a coronavirus pandemic in the world.
