The Azadpur market has witnessed a sharp decline in the wholesale prices of vegetables this summer, when the rates are usually at their highest during this time of the year.
This is good news for the citizens who had been reeling under a spell of high commodity prices over the past few months.
Incidentally, while many have been attributing the fall in prices – which has been to the tune of 50 to 80 per cent in case of vegetables like gourd, lady finger and bitter gourd – to the change in political environment, calling it the “Modi phenomenon”, the farmers have been denying this and are instead calling it a ‘play of nature’.
On the reason behind the fall in prices, especially since the general election had entered its last leg, Ashok, a wholesale trader, said: “The production by and large has been three times more than last year.”
Due to the increased production, the traders said the prices are significantly lower for many of the vegetables like onion, tomato and gourds than what they are around this time of the year.
On how the prices of onion stabilised despite about 40 per cent of the crop being destroyed due to bad weather, Ashok said: “Onion is exported to countries like Pakistan, Colombo, Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. The exports have come down while the supply has become more regular from Rajasthan, and Pune and Nasik in Maharashtra because of which it is being sold at the rate of 10-14 rupees per kg.”
Similarly, tomato is being sold at low rates of 4 to 5 rupees per kg. On the other hand, potato prices have gone up from Rs.10 to Rs.25 per kg over the last two months.
Another vegetable trader, Lalit, said: “Farmers preferred to grow tomatoes this season in place of other vegetables, hoping to earn more than last year. As such there has been an over supply.”
As for the green vegetables, traders insist that the weather has remained favourable and this has resulted in surplus production. Ghiya or gourd is currently selling at Rs.4 per kg in wholesale and has seen a 50 per cent decline; Karela or bitter gourd has also come down from Rs.12-15 per kg to Rs.4-7 rupees per kg since last month and lady finger is being sold at Rs.8 per kg.
Parvinder Bhalla, a wholesale trader at Azadpur Mandi, said following recent storms, the prices are expected to go up. “After the storm, prices are expected to shoot up in a week. However, major changes will be noticed in the weeks following monsoon in early June,” he added.
It also emerged that it is the middlemen who are making profits while the farmers continue to toil hard to cover their basic costs.
For their part, the traders also insist that the margins this year have been less on various counts. One, the prices have reduced and secondly the sales are relatively lower. “The vegetable produce has almost doubled this year in comparison to last year but a significant reduction has been observed in the overall sale. This is primarily due to mixed factors like increased inflow of vegetables produced locally from Panipat, Sonepat, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon, low quantum of exports due to poor quality of produce and a resultant reduction in prices,” said a wholesaler.
