veggie price sears consumers in monsoon
BHUBANESWAR: Potato is not the only vegetable whose price has skyrocketed in the recent past. The price of almost all vegetables have gone up exponentially in the last few days denting the middle class’ household budget.
For the last few days, retail price of almost every essential vegetable has been hovering over Rs 50 including staples like brinjals, chillies and tomatoes. Commonly consumed okra (lady finger) and jahni (ridge gourd) that are being sold at Rs 30 to Rs 35 in wholesale markets, are being sold at retail rate of Rs 50 per kg in both Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
Pumpkin that normally sells at Rs 15 or Rs 20 a kg, is now expensive at Rs 40. Similarly, the price of brinjal, another common vegetable in Odia kitchens, has doubled since last week. The vegetable which was available for Rs 20 to Rs 25 a kg in the local market is now selling at Rs 60 to Rs 80. A local variety of brinjal grown in Rajhansa of Cuttack district was on Saturday selling at Rs 70 to Rs 80 per kg. The retail price of beans is Rs 110 to Rs 120 per kg against the wholesale price of Rs 90. Desi kankada (spine gourd) is expensive at Rs 180 to Rs 200 a kg at local markets. Capsicum, which is available at Rs 90 in wholesale godowns, is being sold at Rs 130 to 140 a kg in haats and shops. Even kunduri (ivy gourd), which was among the cheapest vegetables in the market earlier, is now selling at Rs 36 to Rs 40. Cauliflower is selling at Rs 60 to Rs 70 per piece while cabbage is available for Rs 40 a kg.
The price of onion, which becomes a national headache every couple of years, has hit the roof too with the bulb selling at Rs 40 per kg in the retail market. Traders said while lower quality onions are selling at Rs 35 to Rs 37, the better ones are being sold at Rs 50 per kg. At wholesale markets, the price of the bulb is Rs 5 less than the retail rate. The cost of three kg onions is Rs 1-2 less than the per kg retail price.
The sole relief for consumers are tomatoes and raw papaya whose prices have come down to Rs 60 and Rs 25 per kg respectively. Until last week, papayas were selling at Rs 30 to Rs 35 while the cost of tomatoes soared to Rs 80.
Traders associations of both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack blamed the price surge on shortage of supply and high volume of wastage due to monsoon. Vegetable production in the state, they said, is next to negligible. “Whatever is produced is not even sufficient to meet the local needs. Hence, the state meets its vegetable requirement from other states,” said Kabiraj Swain, secretary of the vegetable vendors’ association, Unit-I market in Bhubaneswar.
For eight months a year, Odisha procures vegetables from wholesale mandis in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
“Since potato trucks from West Bengal were not allowed to come to Odisha, several vegetable producers from the neighbouring state have not sent their stock to the state,” he added. Vegetables like spine gourd, cow peas, pointed gourd, okra, bitter gourd, chillies are procured from West Bengal.
Generally, Aiginia and Unit-1 markets in Bhubaneswar procure 100 truckloads of vegetables from the above-mentioned states. On the day, though, only 40 trucks reached the two markets. Aiginia wholesale traders’ association president Shakti Mishra said since the supply is low due to rain in the source markets, the prices are already high. “When the stock reaches city markets, the prices further go up as it also entails transportation cost,” he said. Traders expect the prices to come down in August when fresh crop arrives in the market.
