Wholesale vegetable vendors have sharply pushed up prices of vegetables across the country. Tomato is a case in point. Due to cartelisation, its price has gone up from Rs 20 a week ago to Rs 60 now.
Market watchers say there is neither shortage of supply nor any urgent reason for steep rise in the prices. Vegetable prices go up during monsoon for three months — July, August and September. But this time, prices have gone up ahead of time.
According to market watchers, this is an indication that vegetables will be dearer when monsoon covers the country.
Market watchers say wholesale prices of vegetables have increased sharply in the past few days. If the price of wholesale touches Rs 20 a kg, then it will be sold at Rs 40 and above in the retail market. It seems that a group of big vendors are hand in glove. local vendors at Azadpur mandi also blamed the wholesalers for price rise of vegetables.
“There is a huge difference between wholesale and retail prices. The game of increasing price is being played mainly due to cartelisation of vendors and wholesale suppliers of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC),” said market watchers.
As per agriculture marketing produce data, tomato is being sold at Rs 50-60 a kg in all metros, including Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi. In Mumbai, the tomato rate has touched Rs 80 a kg due to ongoing monsoon rain in the city.
Further aggravating the situation, the production area under vegetables is going down day by day as farmers are dividing their land under different crops, according to Potato and Onion Merchants Association president Trilok Chand Sharma.
Similarly, pahari potato is being sold between Rs 30-35 a kg in several cities while normal potato is being sold at Rs 25-30 a kg. The rate of onion is between Rs 25 and Rs 30 a kg depending on the quality and profile of the colonies. The retail price of most vegetables including bottle gourd (kaddu), pinted gourd (parwal), brinjal (baigan), have touched Rs 40 a kg. Cauliflower is being sold at Rs 30 a piece. Similarly, prices of beans, ginger, methi has touched over Rs 90 a kg in the retail market.
Similarly, one kg capsicum (shimla mirch) is available at Rs 109; ginger at Rs 125 a kg; carrot Rs 80 a kg, on online vegetable shops. Bottle gourd is being sold at Rs 35 a kg in online shops while it is being sold at Rs 40 a kg by neighbourhood vendors. Bitter gourd is also being sold Rs 92 a kg. Broccoli is being sold at Rs 229 a kg while beans (cowpea) rate is Rs 53 a kg.
On the other hand, local vendors have stated that the price of wholesale rate is higher as compared to last week despite the fact that there is no short supply especially in the national Capital. “Vendors are paying more for wholesale rate that’s why the rates are high,” they said.
Adil, who is chairman of Asia’s largest fruits and vegetables market, claimed there is no shortage of supply in Delhi. “There is nothing new in steep rise of vegetables prices. Prices go up every year in June, July and August due to monsoon. The vegetables are being supplied from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in Delhi,” added Adil.