Vegetable prices jump over 50% as arrivals fall and crop damaged due to rains

The early arrival of monsoon in some parts of the state has hit the vegetable crop, which is highly perishable, hard. The damage to the crop and transportation issues has drastically reduced its arrival at the wholesale market, leading to a sudden spurt in the prices.

NAVI MUMBAI: The early arrival of monsoon in some parts of the state has hit the vegetable crop, which is highly perishable, hard. The damage to the crop and transportation issues has drastically reduced its arrival at the wholesale market, leading to a sudden spurt in the prices.

Navi Mumbai: Vegetable vendors sort onions at APMC market, in Navi Mumbai, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. (PTI Photo)(PTI19-09-2020_000152A) (PTI)

The wholesale APMC market at Vashi that supplies vegetables to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has witnessed a hike cutting across various vegetables. The retail market is worse with the prices shooting up by 50% to 100%. The leafy vegetables have been especially affected.

Said Vikas More, a vegetable wholesaler at APMC, “Nasik district which accounts for over 80% of vegetable supplies to Mumbai had record May rainfall. It destroyed a lot of crops, hence the arrivals to the market have been affected. Rain during transport of the vegetables also causes damage and so a lot of the arrivals have to be thrown away.”

More further said, “When the arrival quantity reduces so drastically, it is natural for prices to rise. There has been an increase of at least ₹10 per kg going up to ₹50 per kg in prices of vegetables depending on their availability.”

Speaking about the retail market, Vijay Yadav, a retailer in Vashi market, said, “We are getting little quantity from the APMC market. The rain has played spoilsport and affected the market adversely.”

He added that a considerable amount of stock that they purchase is lost due to rain. The remaining has to be sold to cover their expenses and if possible make some profit. “The prices in the retail market increase more than that in the wholesale market as our losses are higher. We have still tried to keep it at the minimum so that the stock is sold early. However there are very few buyers and they too are buying in smaller quantities.”

A concerned Vashi resident, Vaishali Adsul, said, “The monsoon has not even really started and the prices have already soared. The market people seem to just need an excuse to do this even as the middle class suffers. Prices doubling so soon does not make sense. There has to be some control, otherwise there will be no stop to it.”