(Yicai Global) Aug. 27 -- Calamity recently struck Shouguang county in China's eastern Shandong province. It suffered from a severe flood which causing great losses to local vegetable farmers in an area known as 'Veggieville.' The flood destroyed many vegetable greenhouses and the greenstuff supply in North and East China may thus be affected this fall and winter.

A week after the flood, rows of pipe in the road and fields still drain water from the greenhouses day and night, as Yicai Global saw at the disaster site. However, growers still do not know when it will fully drain away.

"This flood has destroyed our growth over at least the past two years," locals told Yicai Global.

Yicai Global saw a young woman vegetable grower sobbing over her greenhouses on Aug. 25.

The flood destroyed all six of her greenhouses, with rebuilding each to cost CNY150,000 (USD22,000), she told Yicai Global. They are still submerged over half a meter and she does not know when the floodwater will completely subside. 

Though she has the money to rebuild, she must wait until late fall, which means she "has to pay a lot and gain nothing" for almost a year after already losing nearly CNY1 million (USD147,000) to the deluge.

The number of greenhouses destroyed will rise yet further. Their walls are made of tamped earth and cannot withstand long inundation. If the water does not drain away soon, they will become useless.

No Inkling

The local government provided water drainage equipment the farmers lack. "Water pumps are in great demand as we never foresaw that we might need to drain so much water," local farmers told Yicai Global, which found water still half a meter deep inside one greenhouse. Eggplants and peppers had rotted, polluting the water within and generating an almighty stink. Livestock breeding also took a pounding. About 25,000 hogs drowned in the flood.

Nearly 200,000 vegetable hothouses -- half Shouguang's total -- sustained varying degrees of damage in the disaster, locals told Yicai Global.

Relief work is underway, but the difficulties lie in restoring production. Growers have not insured their facilities and yields as they "had not predicted such a severe disaster," vegetable growers interviewed by Yicai Global said. They also worry about greatly surging vegetable seed prices from greatly increased demand.

Torrential rain from typhoon Rumbia on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19 rapidly raised water levels in an upstream reservoir of the Mi -- the main river in the local area -- to the warning stage. To preserve the reservoir, the manager released water downstream. After days of torrential rain, the floodwaters rushed into the Mi, overwhelming several areAs, among them Shouguang, severely damaging it.

The price of some types of vegetables has since skyrocketed at Shouguang's market, with few buyers. The price of cucumbers jumped to CNY3 (USD0.45) per half-kilogram from CNY1.2 to CNY1.7.

The vegetable price index in Shandong has risen to 126, up 16 percent on the week before. Leafy vegetables, Chinese cabbages and nightshade varieties like potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants rose to 26.5 percent, 23 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Shouguang has almost no vegetable output now so farmers will jack up prices, leading to a sellers' market, locals told Yicai Global.

Withered on the Vine

Yicai Global went to the local vegetable market on Aug. 25 and found few trucks entering. Though now is the off-season for Shouguang's vegetables, a company ships three or four trucks of vegetables whereas it sent 10 truckloads only days before.

Though Shouguang has low output in this season, it clearly feels the impact of the flood, local traders said. "People immediately buy vegetables as soon as they arrive," they added.

The impact on the Beijing market of the vegetable supply from Shouguang "will not manifest itself until October. By then, the supply of vegetables from Shouguang will make up more than one-third of the Beijing market."

It takes time to reconstruct the greenhouses. This is also true for growing vegetables. Nearly half of the productivity of Shouguang's greenhouses will lie dormant for a long time.

"Such a catastrophe was totally unexpected …" is the most common lament heard among local growers.

Editor: Ben Armour