Traders fear veggie prices could rise

Traders at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi are waiting for Friday to know whether prices of vegetables will rise further, reports G. Mohiuddin Jeddy.

Traders at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi are waiting for Friday to know whether prices of vegetables will rise further.

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The incessant rains in the past few days have hit supplies at the APMC wholesale market. Traders are now awaiting reports on crop damage from various parts of the state and the arrivals on Friday to assess the situation.

Leftover stocks took care of the demand on Thursday. Barring tomato, prices of which jumped to Rs 20 kg, and onion which rose to Rs 18-20 / kg, prices of other vegetables were not affected in the retail market on Thursday, a day after rains due to Cyclone Phyan hit parts of the state.

Rakesh Gupta, a retail vendor at Vashi, said, “Prices in the retail market have not yet increased as we have enough stock. Let’s see at what wholesale price we get the commodities on Friday.”

Sanjay Karande, a vegetable wholesaler said arrival of fresh stock was delayed on Thursday “We had a lot of unsold stock. Arrivals were down by over 50 per cent because transportation was affected.”

Onion crop has been affected. “The new ready crop that was to come to the market has been damaged to the extent of 50 per cent,” said Ashok Karpe, an onion trader. “That will affect supplies for some time.”

Karpe said the onion crop just sowed will be helped by the rains. “But overall prices of onions could rise further in a couple of days,” he said. Karande said the rain was good for crops in drought-affected areas. “But we are waiting for information from the farmers,” he said.