Now, pay a fortune for your veggies

Price rise attributed to crop damage due to Cyclone Phailin and also due to supply shortage

November 15, 2013 12:26 am | Updated 12:26 am IST - HYDERABAD:

Vegetable prices in the city have once again shot up across markets, forcing consumers to shell out at least Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 extra per kilo on most of their purchases. The latest increase in the costs has been attributed to cyclone Phailin, which devastated a large extent of crops in the State last month.

“The price rise began a day after Deepavali as the arrival of stocks decreased, and the situation has remained the same,” said P. Gajanand, vice-president, Monda Market Vegetable Retailers Association.

He added that since the festival day, the quantity of supply from the State has reduced by 60 per cent, and that the situation would remain the same in the coming few days.

Costly potatoes

Potatoes, which were being sold at Rs. 20 a kilo till a day before Deepavali, are now priced between Rs. 35 and Rs. 40. Similarly, the price of onions which had finally come down to Rs. 30 about 10 days ago, has once again gone up to Rs. 50 per kilo now.

Same is the case with other vegetables like lady fingers, green chillies, drumsticks, etc which also now cost at least 50 per cent higher, comparatively.

Mr. Gajanand pointed out that the price of tomatoes is so unstable now that it has been changing everyday from the last one week.

“It went to Rs. 35 a kilo from Rs. 25 and these days the cost depends on the daily supply,” he informed, and further added that more stock from other States like Gujarat and Maharashtra is being brought in due to the shortage, and hence the higher prices. The customers have no other alternative, but pay the price demanded by the sellers.

Third time

“This is the third time prices of vegetables have gone up in the past one month. It has upset our monthly budget and affected our savings,” said Sai Kumar, a private employee.

However, the situation at Rythu Bazars remained stable, barring a slight increase in the prices of French beans, capsicum, onions, green chillies and brinjal.

“There is an increase in prices due to the cyclone. We are trying our best to make sure that there is enough to supply so that prices remain stable,” said Vijay Kumar, State officer, Rythu Bazar, Mehdipatnam.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.