There seems to be no respite to the common man as vegetable prices in the district continue to remain largely high, with tomato, onion and carrot being especially costly.
At the Ernakulam market, small onion was sold at a wholesale price of ₹ 90 per kg and a retail price of ₹100 whereas tomato and carrot were sold at ₹52 and ₹60 and ₹55 and ₹60 respectively. Prices were even higher in some other markets.
“On an average, vegetable prices continue to be 20 per higher than what it was a month ago, though prices of some vegetables have dropped slightly,” said K.K. Ashraf, vice-president, Ernakulam Market Stall Owners’ Association.
Price of shallots
The only relief seems to be the declining trend in the price of shallots after touching a high of ₹130 recently, though the ruling retail price of ₹100 per kg is a far cry from ₹65 in April. Mr. Ashraf expressed the hope that a further softening of onion prices would come about with production catching up in Tamil Nadu, the main supplier to Kerala.
However, tomato and carrot prices continued to hold firm with the previous low of ₹20 per kg appearing to be from a distant past. Green chilli has also turned a lot spicier with the price soaring to ₹60 per kg from ₹35.
“The shortage of tomatoes in North India drove traders from there to the markets in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which in turn, took a toll on the supply to Kerala. The strike by farmers in Maharashtra didn’t help either,” Mr. Ashraf said.
In the meantime, the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) which aims at ensuring fair prices for farmers, was on a high over what it claimed consistently good returns for farmers. Farmers continue to auction their crops through 22 farmer markets in the district.
Data collected from the wholesale markets in Aluva, Ernakulam and Perumbavoor on a daily basis by the market information centre of the VFPRCK were handed over to farmers to be used as the base price in auctioning their produce.
This ensured that farmers got a price, which was even better than the market price, a senior VFPCK official said.
Asked whether better price for farmers automatically resulted in higher prices for consumers, the official said that it was beyond the mandate of the VFPCK and had to be addressed by the government through market intervention measures.
