Visakhapatnam: Markets are generally full with green vegetables in the winter season. It’s so this year too, but the prices this time are a tad less compared to 2021.
By end-2021, both kitchen budgets and vegetable prices had significantly increased, further burdening the common man. This year's larger production of vegetables has resulted in a stable price situation. This brought a sigh of relief to the common man, while, in terms of earnings from the market, the farmers are disappointed.
Numerous acres of the tomato crop in Chittoor were devastated by the cyclonic storm in November, 2021. Since 65 per cent of the stock is sourced from Chittoor, tomato prices experienced a sharp increase to Rs 125 per kg. To lower the price to Rs 70 per kg, dealers began importing tomatoes from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Karnataka in December.
Tomatoes, a necessary ingredient in Telugu meals, saw a decline in price in 2022, the lowest price being at Rs 2 per kg in mid-November, for the third time of the year. The reasons for the high output for farmers in West Godavari, Krishna and NTR were continuous rainfall and favourable climatic conditions.
Farmers expected a good profit in return, but traders are reluctant to quote higher rates due to tomato’s quick perishability.
“We are badly affected by the low prices being offered by traders. This apart, the middlemen are taking a major cut. They are offering farmers Rs 1 per kg and selling the same in retail for Rs 15. They are making a profit of at least Rs 10 after paying the transport charges,” said Nukaratnam, a farmer selling his produce in the NAD Rythu Bazaar.
“The farmers are unable to cope up with the harvesting costs especially after the local market is not showing an interest in purchases at a decent rate. Our investment expenses are high. Thank God for the good rains and climate conditions. We got a high yield. But, the middlemen are taking a big cut and we are unable to cover even our harvesting cost, let alone transport charges,” says Muthyam, a farmer who depends on Gopalapatnam Rythu Bazaar for sale of his produce.
The public find the price drop for vegetables in comparison with the previous year is substantial.
"Every vegetable is affordable now. Like most people, I buy a lot of green leafy veggies in the winter. This year, I've also seen a lot of imported cauliflower. A single flower costs around Rs 25; and the same for cabbage. This year's costs are fairly reasonable because I remember paying Rs 120 per kg for summer veggies like okra, row and bitter gourd last year,” says Prasad, an ex-Navy man.
“During the winter, we bring home a lot of carrots, potatoes, capsicum, cauliflower and cabbage along with leafy vegetables. All of the aforementioned items cost between Rs 50 and Rs 60, which is, in my opinion, a terrific deal,” says housewife Jyothi Priya.
