Bumper harvest, cold wave: Prices of vegetables plunge in Gujarat

According traders, these are the lowest rates in the past five-seven years.

At the old yard of Rajkot Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) — Saurashtra’s biggest vegetable market — cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, brinjals and field peas were selling at average Rs 3, Rs 5, Rs 6, Rs 13 and Rs16 per kilogram respectively on Thursday.

Commission agent Shambhu Khunt says there’s a glut of cabbage in Rajkot vegetable market. (Express Photo)

The rates in Ahmedabad APMC mandi were Rs 3.50, Rs 7 , Rs 4 , Rs 15.50 and Rs17 respectively. Surat APMC offered comparatively higher rates. Except for field peas, prices for most of the vegetables at wholesale vegetable markets in the state are half or even lower compared to the corresponding day last year.

In Rajkot, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, brinjals and field peas prices on December 29, 2021, were Rs 15, Rs 17, Rs 15, Rs 20, Rs 20 (See the table) respectively.

Leafy vegetables such as coriander and fenugreek leaves are also selling at around Rs 8 per kg each in Rajkot, Rs 12 and Rs 17 respectively, in Ahmedabad.

Cucumber, carrots and radish, which are widely consumed raw, are selling at Rs 20, Rs 13 and Rs 10 respectively in Rajkot and Rs 35, Rs 10 and Rs 8.5 respectively in Ahmedabad.

In Surat, these vegetables are selling at Rs 20, Rs 13 and Rs14 respectively. Rates are similar in Vadodara as well.

Interestingly, prices of brinjal, field peas, guar (cluster beans), okra, butter beans, etc., are lower despite their arrivals also being lower as compared to last year. On the other hand, arrivals of cabbage, cauliflower, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ribbed gourd, etc., are higher this year compared to the corresponding days last year in Rajkot and Ahmedabad, data of the two APMCs show.

Excluding potato and onion, field peas was the single largest vegetable item to be unloaded in Rajkot yard.

The yard recorded the arrival of 875 quintals (100 kg make one quintal) of field peas, all from Madhya Pradesh, traders said.

In Ahmedabad also, field peas was the single largest vegetable item to arrive in the market with 2574 quintals being unloaded in the mandi on December 29.

Leafy vegetables such as coriander and fenugreek leaves are also selling at around Rs 8 per kg each in Rajkot, Rs 12 and Rs 17 respectively, in Ahmedabad. (Express Photo)

“While farmers are in midst of a bumper harvest of tomatoes, overall demand has dipped due to the cold wave the state has been witnessing for the past week or so. On the other hand, exports to Bangladesh are negligible due to the economic crises there,” Narayan Patel, a tomato trader and a member of the board of directors of Vadodara APMC says, adding, “Farmers from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are selling their tomatoes in Vadodara these days.”

In October, 2021, tomatoes were selling at Rs 3,000-6,000 a quintal (Rs30-60 per kg).

The Rajkot market is flooded by tomatoes coming from central Gujarat districts such as Kheda and Anand, besides the local crop in districts like Rajkot, and Jamnagar.

“On the other hand, demand hasn’t gone up. In fact, we are struggling to dispose of the daily arrivals,” says Kishor Makwana, a tomato whole-seller at the Rajkot market.

On Thursday, 2,500 kg of cabbage brought by farmer Sanjay Khunt (43), to the Rajkot market got sold at average Rs 3 per kg.

“Rs 4 is the highest price I have got so far this season,” Sanjay, a farmer from Khokhadadad village on the outskirts of Rajkot city says, adding, “I am happy for the fact that at least my cabbage has some buyers. I have seen days when traders don’t even allow us to unload cabbage due to glut.”

Sanjay Khunt with his lot of cabbage on Rajkot APMC mandi on Thursday. (Express Photo)

Rajkot APMC data shows that the average price of cabbage and cauliflower were around Rs13 and 15 in early October but crashed to a third of them by mid-November. By mid-December, they declined further by a third to hit lows not seen in recent years.

“Such low rates have not been seen in five-seven years,” Shambhu Khunt, a vegetable trader in Rajkot, says.

In Surat, some farmers point fingers at whole-sellers. “They are offering lower price to farmers while subsequently selling the same vegetables to retailers at higher rates. Government should take action against them,” says a farmer on the condition of anonymity.

But Deepak Patel, secretary of Jamalpur APMC in Ahmedabad, says it’s all play of demand and supply dynamics. “The supply this time is good and abundant due to good rains and proper sunshine for the vegetables. So, the prices are quite low for the season,” he said.

Despite the low prices in wholesale markets, retailers say they are gaining little. “When prices crash like this, many who hawk sundry things or collect scrap otherwise start selling vegetables. Due to this competition, our margins remain thin,” says Vijay Pakhodiya, a green-grocer in HUDCO vegetable market in Rajkot.

The Rajkot market is flooded by tomatoes coming from central Gujarat districts such as Kheda and Anand, besides the local crop in districts like Rajkot, and Jamnagar. (Express Photo)

In 2015, the state government deleted fruits and vegetables from the list of commodities under the APMC Act. But much of the primary trade continues to take place at APMCs.

“This is because vegetable retailers like us don’t have the financial capacity to purchase entire lots of harvest brought by farmers nor will they trust us to sell us on credit,” says Ramesh Vaghela (20), another green grocer in the HUDCO market.