Kochi: Scanty rain sees veg prices soar

Kochi: The already highly priced vegetables will become dearer in coming months with sharp dip in the supply from neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu. The scanty rains in neighbouring states have affected vegetable cultivation and the price will escalate in next couple of months due to reduced supply, according to traders.  

Traders foresee shortage of vegetables, especially bananas during this Onam festival season. “There won’t be scarcity of vegetables but the inflow will surely be lesser than previous years”, said K. K. Ashraf, secretary of Ernakulam Market Vegetable Association. Keeping the Tamil Nadu drought in mind, farmers in Kerala are also gearing up to meet the additional demand for vegetables during Onam.

Traders in Kochi mainly source vegetables from Mettupalayam, Ottanchatram, Mysore and Hosur.

The prices of ginger and lemon have skyrocketed over the past few weeks. The price of ginger has shot up to `200 per kg from `140 per kg in just two weeks. “The 2018 August floods caused extensive damage to ginger crop in Wayanad and the replanted plants have not been harvested yet. Once harvesting begins the prices are expected to come down,” said Abdul Khader, a ginger wholesaler at the Ernakulam market. Now, markets in the state are dependent on supply of ginger from farms in Karnataka.

Although the price of beans went up to `100/kg last month it has now come down to `60/kg. Potato prices also remain relatively low because vendors have started sourcing the tuber from Gujarat instead of depending on the supply from Ooty alone.

 “There was a slump in vegetable sales during the school vacation season but sales have picked up after the schools reopened,” said A Afsal, wholesaler at the Agricultural Urban Wholesale Market at Nettoor.

Many consumers come to the wholesale markets as more varieties are available at relatively lower price.

“Earlier they did not have qualms on spending a little extra on their favourite vegetables, but now they prefer to buy veggies at the lower end of the price scale, and the high-priced ones remain unsold at the market,” added K.K Ashraf.