MAFF Announces the April 2026 Vegetable Price Outlook—Cabbage and Lettuce Down Year-on-Year, Potatoes and Onions Remain High

On March 31, 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries released the April growth situation and price outlook for vegetables destined for the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market. With rainfall and rising temperatures from late February onward, the growth of many leafy vegetables has recovered, andcabbageand lettuce are expected to see supply volumes slightly above the average year and prices fall relative to the average year. Meanwhile, potatoes and onions, still carrying the effects of last summer's Hokkaido drought, continue to have shipment volumes below the average year, and high prices continue.

Price outlook by item

The April outlook compiled by MAFF based on interviews with major growing regions is as follows.

Leafy vegetables—the background to the recovery

cabbageThe main sources are the three growing regions of Kanagawa, Aichi, and Chiba. Kanagawa growth is progressing smoothly, and Aichi growth has also recovered from January's low rainfall thanks to rain from late February onward. Chiba is expected to see a full-scale increase in shipments from late April, and for April as a whole, supply will be slightly above the average year. Cabbage prices, which had continued at high levels since last year, are expected to return this spring to a level easier for consumers to buy.

LettuceIbaraki, holding about a 62% share, is the main growing region. Growth had been pushed back by January's low rainfall, but rain and rising temperatures from late February onward accelerated growth, and April shipments are expected to recover to the average level. Prices will fall below the average year, becoming easier to reach consumers' hands.

Items such as Chinese cabbage, green onion, spinach, broccoli, cucumber, eggplant, tomato, and bell pepper are also expected to see growth recover as temperatures rise, with many holding at price levels at or below the average year.

Root vegetables and tubers—the drought effect from last summer lingers

PotatoesThe main sources are Kagoshima (about 64% share) and Hokkaido (31%), but Hokkaido shipment volumes fell sharply due to the effects of the high temperatures and drought in summer 2025, and Kagoshima growth was also delayed by winter snowfall. April shipment volumes will be below the average year, and prices are expected to continue at high levels.

OnionsThe main growing regions are Hokkaido (about 61%) and Saga (22%). Hokkaido growth was delayed by last summer's high temperatures and drought, and Saga by winter cold and dryness, with both seeing shipment volumes below the average year. This site has been continuously tracking onion price trends from late last year into this spring, and

Note that regarding the onion market as of March this year,Onions at the Keihin market, with a Saga-driven increase, shift out of a high-price phaseAs reported in detail there, an increase in Saga supply had begun to shift high prices. However, MAFF's April outlook continues to anticipate a supply shortage, and a full-scale price decline may be pushed back to May or later.

Background—summer 2025 weather still exerts influence

The main cause of this polarization in the price distribution is the record heat and drought that struck all of Hokkaido in summer 2025 (Reiwa 7). Potatoes and onions, grown mainly in open fields, saw yields fall due to heat stress and water shortage, and those effects have been lingering into the early spring of 2026.

Meanwhile, open-field leafy vegetables that do not use heated greenhouses are prone to receiving the tailwind of rising temperatures, and this spring's mild weather helped push the recovery. The effects of climate change appear in different forms for each item, and from the standpoint of diversifying growing-region risk, the way domestic vegetables are stably procured is being questioned anew.

From the standpoint of food-loss reduction, for items whose prices fall relative to the average year, increased consumption can be expected, while for items where high prices persist, household usage tends to be held down, and there is also the aspect that supplying surplus ingredients to food banks and school lunches becomes difficult. In tandem with prepared-food loss reduction measures such as those Too Good To Go rolls out at Super Value (Too Good To Go, prepared-food loss reduction at Super Value), building mechanisms that reconcile stable supply of agricultural produce with waste reduction is an urgent task.

Implications for April consumption and farm management

MAFF promotes its "Let's eat vegetables" project every month, actively introducing seasonal, affordable vegetables to consumers. In April, menu proposals centered on cabbage and lettuce, whose prices are falling, are expected to increase. From the standpoint of farm managers, securing diversification of growing regions and varieties, centered on potatoes and onions, remains an important issue. Moves that connect price-fluctuation risk to product development, such as making use of out-of-spec vegetables (JA Kumamoto Keizairen turns wake-ari vegetables into washi paper lights), are also drawing attention.

MAFF continues to publish monthly growth and price outlooks, and wholesale price trends can also be checked on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' daily information site.

[Source] Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "On the growth situation and price outlook for vegetables (April, Reiwa 8)" (announced March 31, 2026)
URL: https://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/nousan/engei/260331.html