Severe competition in the market during the hard COVID-19 times is keeping the prices of most vegetables down even as production and supplies appear to have almost normalised.
A large number of people are selling vegetables and fruits to make a living as jobs have been lost. Those daily wage labourers, ranging from construction industry hands to transport workers, are doing everything to make a living and they should be supported with all our resources, said N. H. Shameed, a leading vegetable seller in the Ernakulam market and Market Stall Owners’ Association president.
He said that the supplies had come back to near normal levels and the business was slowly, but gradually returning to the normal levels after the lockdown. Prices of some of the vegetables had gone up but largely, they had been kept under check because of the competition in the market, he said.
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According to figures on Thursday from the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, the price of carrot was ruling at ₹84 a kg in the retail market though in some of the market, the price of the produce exceeded ₹100 a kg.
The price of potato was ₹57 in the retail market while items like shallots (small onions) cost ₹100 a kg in the retail market. Big onions were sold at ₹58 a kg while cabbage sold for ₹42 a kg in the retail market. Drumsticks and green chillies sold for ₹62 and ₹42 a kg respectively in the retail market