Veggie prices hit roof,traders see no immediate respite

There is no respite in sight for the spiralling vegetable prices,with traders predicting that the prices may remain at the crest or may rise further as there has been heavy crop losses this season due to untimely rains.

There is no respite in sight for the spiralling vegetable prices,with traders predicting that the prices may remain at the crest or may rise further as there has been heavy crop losses this season due to untimely rains. They say the dip in prices,usually seen post Diwali and at the start of the winter with the arrival of new crops into the market,is not expected this year.

The arrival of vegetables has gone consistently down for the past few weeks. On Thursday,the vegetables that came to the market were: ladys finger – 108 quintals,brinjal – 110 quintals,tomato – 560 quintals and green chilli – 643 quintals,much lower compared to the quantities that arrived in the market a month ago. On October 2,it was ladys finger – 458 quintals,tomato – 1185 quintals,green chilli – 668 quintals and brinjal – 322 quintals.

The prices of vegetables in Gultekdi Market on Thursday were bhendi – Rs 22-25 per kg,brinjal Rs 15-20 per kg and tomato Rs 18-20 per kg. Due to untimely rains in September-October,a significant portion of vegetable crops were lost. This has resulted in low arrival of vegetables in the market; usually at this time,the arrivals go up, says Ankush Khonde,vegetables section-in-charge of Gultedki Market APMC.

Dip in veggie arrivals and the subsequent hike in prices started in the first week of October. During Diwali days,it reached its peak with a further fall in arrivals during holidays owing to unavailability of labourers. Though,post-Diwali,some vegetables like cauliflower and tomato have seen a slight dip in prices,the prices of other vegetables remained constant.

Traders say the prices could come down only in the second week of December,when the new Rabi crop would start coming into the market. There has been a 30 per cent loss of vegetables this season,especially in Solapur,Pune,Nashik and Ahmednagar districts that supply vegetables to the city. The prices would come down only in the second week of December when the new crop will start coming to the market, said Shriram Gadhve,president of All-India Vegetable Growers Association.

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