Vegetables in the city just got cheaper in comparison to the first week of December last year. Veggie lovers are all cheers at this sudden fall in prices. But, farmers and vendors complain of the falling prices.
“We are so delighted at the sudden fall in prices for almost each vegetable in the market. The previous two months with all festivities on, we had to strictly stick to a vegetarian diet while they were comparatively costlier. But, now that the winters are setting in and the cherry-red tomatoes, fresh capsicums, cauliflowers and beans are so welcoming that even children are eating it without complaining. I just bought two bags full of vegetables and had to only shell out just Rs135 as compared to a Rs250-300 in the previous two months,” said Preeti Sethi, a homemaker from Kanke Road, who was happy buying vegetables at the local market.
According to the retailer market price in the city, vegetables such as tomatoes that were available at Rs35 per kg in October and November are now available at Rs16 per kg. Cabbage that was being sold at Rs30-40 per kg is now being sold at Rs10 per kg only. Surprisingly, the price of green capsicums dipped sharply from Rs40-45 per kg to a mere Rs20 per kg.
“The prices for vegetables and even onion were quite high for the past two months and even in the winters last years as we faced a huge crisis with heavy rains spoiling our maximum produce. Though, this year, there was little rainfall this year, we have been able to still have a decent harvest. As far as vegetables are concerned, we are ourselves quite happy to see the abundance in quantity and good quality. But unfortunately, since the supply is more this year in the market, the demand is now suddenly decreasing,” said a vegetable vendor laxmi Devi, also wife of a farmer from Tilaiya, Hazaribagh.
The local vegetable vendors and farmers believe that the high production of vegetables have led to the drop in price. “Since its winter and the best season for growing vegetables, especially the green ones, we have a decent produce for this year. We are aiming to sell off all the vegetables fresh in a day but since the supply has gone up, there are takers but not too many. So, vegetables are also rotting up and we finally have to feed it to our cows. Even the falling prices have made our lives difficult because we thought we would earn quite a bit this year,” said Saraswati Kumari, another vegetable vendor at a local daily market in Kanke, Ranchi.
Meanwhile, Managing Director of Jharkhand Agriculture Marketing Board, Raj Kumar reiterated the same reason of favourable climatic condition behind the fall of vegetable prices.
“The winters are the best season for production of vegetables and these vegetables are perishable. Hence, the farmers and vendors are compelled to sell them off even at lower prices in order to curb further loss. Though, we are quite satisfied to see the abundance in the quantity and superiority in quality this year and such fresh vegetables are also being exported to other States of the country,” said Raj Kumar.