Though the recent heavy rains gave the people of the region relief from a prolonged dry spell, the residents of Mysuru have started to feel the pinch of the consequent soaring of vegetable prices.
Sources in the Agricultural Produce Marketing Yard (APMC) and Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society Ltd. (Hopcoms) in Mysuru said vegetable arrivals were hit drastically over the past few weeks because of the rains.
“The prices have increased as the yield has been hit because of the heavy rains in the region,” said Anand, managing director of Hopcoms, Mysuru.
Farmers who had grown their vegetables in greenhouses managed to harvest a good yield despite the rains. The greenhouses not only insulated the vegetables from the rain but also prevented disease spread.
Sources in the APMC yard in Mysuru said the arrival of vegetables to the market has slowed down and farmers are complaining of destruction of their crop in the rain. Mysuru and the surrounding regions from where farmers bring vegetables to the yard received heavy rainfall in the past 40 to 45 days.
Though the rains have subsided over the last week, sources in the APMC yard expect the trend of poor arrival of vegetables to continue for another month. This means prices will continue to stay steep.
Y.T. Mahesh, a farmer from H.D. Kote taluk who grows a variety of crops in Savve village, about 3 km from H.D. Kote town, said the rains had affected cotton and ginger crop as well in the region. However, the rains have not only helped fill the reservoirs, lakes and other waterbodies, but have also recharged the groundwater table in the region.
