Delhi: Lack of supply leads to soaring prices of vegetables

Delhi: The soaring prices of vegetables, due to reduction in supply at mandis following incessant rains, have severely impacted the budget of people.

Prices of the most commonly used vegetables in every household — tomatoes and potatoes — have increased nearly 200% over the past two weeks.

The prices of tomatoes and potatoes stand at Rs 120 per kg and 40 per kg respectively, though two weeks ago prices of tomatoes and potatoes stood at Rs 30 per kg and 15 per kg respectively.

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Apart from this, prices of other vegetables including okra, brinjal, bottle gourd, lemon, cauliflower, sponge gourd, among others have also registered a major surge forcing Delhiites to switch to lentils instead of cooking vegetables for the meal.

Currently, okra is priced at Rs 80 per kg, price of brinjal is Rs 160 per kg, bottle gourd costs Rs 110 per kg, lemon stands at Rs 200 per kg, cauliflower costs Rs 180 per kg, sponge gourd is priced at Rs 60 per kg.

Speaking to Patriot, Adarsh Verma, 32, an employee at IT company said, “The vegetable prices in the city have suddenly registered a steep hike making it difficult for a common man to afford it. There is no salary hike, but the prices of the essential commodities are skyrocketing.”

Sameer Khan, 45, an owner of a confectionery store said, “The vegetable prices are touching the sky. Our kitchen budget has gone three times higher for the past two weeks as the prices of green vegetables have surged drastically. We are often cooking lentils instead of vegetables in order to control the budget of our household.”

Sarita Devi, (50), a housewife, said, “Tomato is an essential vegetable. It is commonly used in every recipe. It is currently priced at Rs 120 per kg, while previously it was just Rs 30 per kg, which has made it difficult to buy. Earlier, we used to buy it in bulk – 5-10 kgs, but now we are only buying 1 – 2 kgs, just to add flavour to the meal.”

Ram Prasad, (45), a rickshaw puller, was seen buying only 200 grams of tomatoes. Prasad said, “Our whole budget for the month is disturbed. The tomatoes have become so difficult to buy. I am the sole bread-earner of the family and I have two children; how will I be able to feed them if the basic vegetable prices are so high.”

“The government should do something about the surging prices of vegetables or else a common man will die of hunger,” Prasad added.

The online retailing platforms are offering the staple vegetable at a price of Rs 87 per half kg.

Skyrocketing tomato prices 

Informing about the reason behind the steep surge in the prices of tomatoes, Sanjay Bhagat, a wholesale vegetable vendor at Azadpur Mandi said, “The price of tomatoes has skyrocketed to Rs 50 per kg in wholesale markets due to recent rains. This surge is attributed to a decline in supply over the past week. Heavy rains have disrupted transportation, reducing the number of trucks transporting tomatoes from states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh.”

Previously, tomato prices were in the range of Rs 30-35 per kg, but in the past week, they have spiked to Rs 60-70 per kg in wholesale markets, noted Parveet, a vendor at Ghazipur Sabzi Mandi.

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Another vendor at the Okhla vegetable market reported that tomato prices have risen sharply in the last week due to damage to crops caused by the rains.

The shelf life of tomatoes is very less. However, the supply of tomato has also been affected due to the rain, resulting in the major price surge in the national capital, as per a vendor at the Azadpur Mandi.

Prices of other vegetables 

Ram Baran, member of the Agricultural Marketing Board, Delhi Government, told Patriot, “The price hike of the staple vegetables in Delhi is not the first time. This happens every year during this time as rain disrupts supply.”

“If we talk about the price surge of onions, it is due to the shortage of stock. Currently only stocked onions are available in the market. Fifty percent of the onion stock alone is coming from Nasik these days. The other big suppliers – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat are not able to meet the demand this time of the year due to the rainfall,” Baran stated.

“Rajasthan has salty water due to which the whole stock of onion gets destroyed during this time. The desert state, therefore, is not able to supply it. The other states are also exporting the vegetable following which there is shortage in supply which is shooting up the prices,” Baran added.

Devendra Kumar Gupta, member of the Market Association, Azadpur Mandi, said, “The prices of vegetables other than tomatoes, onions, and potatoes have also gone up slightly in the wholesale market, while the local vendors are taking advantage of it and increasing the prices of other vegetables too.”

“The supply of the other vegetables including okra, brinjal, bottle gourd, lemon, cauliflower, and sponge gourd are affected slightly due to the heavy rainfall across the country, but there is no major surge in the price in the wholesale market,” said Gupta. Gupta added, “The prices of the vegetables will surge further and there is no hope that Delhiites will get relief any time soon. The prices will normalise after August 15”.

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