Chennai: The prices of essential vegetables, including onions, tomatoes and beans skyrocketed on Wednesday as the arrival of trucks declined by 50 percent.
The prices of fruits and vegetables have been constantly surging in the past one month due to unprecedented rains in Karnataka and now, heavy spells in Chennai from three days have contributed to a sudden surge of 20 per cent.
“Heavy rains in areas like Hosur, Malur and Bengaluru coupled with Chennai rains have hit the produce. As against the usual number of 300 trucks per each type of vegetable we would receive, only 200 trucks have been coming. This has resulted in an immediate increase in the price of onion, Tomato, carrot, beans and drumstick,” said V.R Soundararajan, a member of Koyambedu Traders Association.
Prices of Bangalore onion, the variety commonly preferred by households during the November-December season, and small onions that arrive from Salem have touched Rs 50 and Rs 40 per kilogram from Rs 25 and Rs 20 previously. The price of drumstick soars by Rs 60, green peas by Rs 50, cabbage by '30 and most other vegetables by Rs 20 at least.
On the other hand, the wholesale fruit trade market is also hit badly as the price of muskmelon reached an all-time high of the last 30 years. It is now priced at Rs 40 per kg as against the usual Rs. 15-20.
“Banana, pineapple and watermelon prices surged in the past two days due to which the profits came down by 50 percent. Usually, traders buy the fruits on credit, but they have been denied the credit facility for the past one-week due to a fall in demand”, said V. Narayanan, a wholesale trader at Koyambedu. However, there has not been a great difference in the prices of flowers.
