Vegetable prices shoot up as supplies hit due to rain.......... HYDERABAD: Incessant rain during the last four days led to a fall in vegetable supply to the city , consequently hiking the prices. Sources in the agriculture marketing departmentsaidthatsupplies of all vegetables have gone down by about 20 per cent. However , supply of onions and tomatoes saw a sharper fall. Arrivals of non-local vegetables like capsicum and beans have also declined. Onion supply , which has seen many highs and lows this monsoon ,once again dippedtolessthan a quarter of the normal arrivals in the citys wholesale market at Mahboob Mansion. The arrivals on Friday stood at 4,500 quintals as farmers have not been picking the crop. The bad weather has also made drying the damp crop difficult. Wholesale prices have also increased , an official at the market said , adding thatstock arrivedonly from Kurnool and not from other supply centres in Maharashtra. The local variety was available for Rs 45 per kilogram in the wholesale market while it was retailing around Rs 50 per kg in the citys stores. Customers also expressed disappointment over the quality of available onions. The onions are damp and cannot last more than a few days. The prices have gone up but what is available is not worth the price , complained Sulekha Chandran , a resident of Khairatabad. The citys supermarkets too have been feeling the pinch. Our normal supply of vegetables has been hit for the past three days due to transport issues caused by the incessant rains. There hasnt been enough on the shelves and we are trying to work out a solution to increase supply , said P V J Verma , from Q Mart Supermarket in Banjara Hills. Vegetable quality on the whole too has suffered , with mostly limp and stale legumes being sold. French beans , carrots and leafy vegetables have been affected the most during transport in the rains. Vegetables are getting spoilt even before they reach us from the suppliers , said R Karunakar , Food World Supermarket , Shanti Nagar. Given that picking of vegetables is not happening in rainsoaked fields, marketing officials saidthatshortsupply islikely to remain for a couple of days even after the skies clear up. They also said that crop damage due to heavy rain may further aggravate supply and pricing. The extent of crop damage would not become apparent until next week. Once this is known , the duration of short supply and it simpact on vegetable prices will become clear , a marketing department official said.TOI
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 07:07:31 +0000
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