With petrol and CNG price hike, vegetables did not lay back. There is another issue to add to the common man’s woes list.
Last month’s statistics show that the prices of guar and cauliflower have already gone up by more than 30 percent. Other vegetables like tomatoes and onions have increased by 75 and 50 percent respectively.
It is a general tendency for the vegetables vendors to raise prices in monsoon. Mr. Dipak Patel, secretary of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Ahmedabad says, “Vegetable prices go up when there is a shortage of supply against the rising demand. At present, prices have increased because of rain. Farms are under water and in such situations, farmers refrain from plucking vegetables,” he said.
Another major reason behind the rise in vegetable prices is transportation because of which the supply of vegetables from outside the state has become limited. The supply of onions from Nashik has also fallen drastically. Hence, vegetable prices have shot up.
Mr.Saket Thakkar, A City-based onion trader says “Every day, around 300 tonnes of onion arrive in Ahmedabad, which is far less compared to the daily demand. The demand for Nashik onions has increased in the southern part of the country as well. So, prices have increased not only in Gujarat but also in other parts of the country.”
On Saturday, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) released a study on rising prices of fruits and vegetables. The uncertainty of rain and the exorbitant rates of the vegetables and fruits have disrupted over 88 percent of middle and lower income groups.
The fact of the matter is that in the last three years, the average salary hike has been less than 40 per cent while prices of vegetables have shot up by 250 to 300 per cent.
