Vegetable price comes down

The prices of vegetables have come down considerably in the city markets thanks the heavy arrivals from the villages.

The prices of all the vegetables except the small onion have dropped for the last few weeks, much to the joy of all sections of the society. Only a few months ago, the prices of all the vegetables soared to new heights coinciding with the fall of flowers during the post floods period in late October and early November.

However horticulturists have started registering good harvest, a phenomenon considered not so usual during summer months.

Uzhavar Santhai, which seeks to provide a fair and profitable return to the farmers, too have registered a dip in the prices, attracting a large number of customers every day. The price per kg of tomato in the Tennur Annanagar Uzhavar Santhai is Rs. 4; brinjal Rs. 10; lady's finger Rs.14; bitter gourd Rs. 10; kottavarai Rs. 10; beetroot Rs. 10; carrot Rs. 16; bellary Rs. 12, avarakkai Rs. 20; drumstick Rs. 25. The price of greens, plantain have also come down. The price of coconut ranged from Rs. 6 to Rs. 10. Only the price of small onion is on the higher side, Rs. 29 per kg.

Even in the Gandhi Market and in the vegetable stalls in the residential localities the prices of vegetables have remained stable for the past one month.

It is due to the good and steady arrival from the villages of Tiruppainjeeli, Kottur, Ettarai, Podanur, Muthalaipatti, Pochampatti, Kodiyalam, Kottathur, Keezhakunnampatti that has had a telling effect on the prices of the vegetables.

The locals who were spending cautiously on the vegetables till a few months ago, are literally happy with the fall in prices. “I used to spend Rs. 150 a week for the purchase of vegetables for my family comprising five persons. Now I spend only half the amount”, says B. Jayalakshmi, a housewife of Ponnagar.

U.S. Karuppiah, president of Gandhi Market Vegetables Merchants Association, says the good arrivals from the villages within the district besides sharp increase in the yield of English vegetables in the adjoining Karnataka state had resulted in the fall in the prices of the vegetables.

Venkatraman, running a vegetable wholesale agency in Vaiyampatti, a major wholesale market of the district, concedes that good yield of tomato and other vegetables has been reported in the villages surrounding Vaiyampatti. While other vegetables are sent to Odanchathiram market, the entire tomato stock is sent to Tiruchi market, he says.