THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Compared to the last season, this Onam will be costlier on an average by at least 50 percent. While the open market prices of cereals have gone up by 23-25 percent, that of oils have gone up by nearly 50 percent, and vegetables are dearer by over 80 percent; in the case of tomato the increase in price is a staggering 245 percent from last Onam season. However, the prices of pulses have fallen by 30-32 percent. For instance, if ‘chamba’ rice was Rs 34 a kg last September, it has swelled to Rs 42 this September, an increase of 23.52 percent. In fact, there has been a 2 percent increase from last month, coinciding with the Onam season. Worse in the increase for ‘matta’ rice (24.75 percent), what was Rs 35.36 a kg is now Rs 44.11.
“These rice cartels, especially those in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, increase prices according to their whims especially during a festival season like Onam. The government has not been able to rein them in,” a top Finance Department source said. “The only way to put these cartels in their place is to shun packaged rice and opt for rice sold loose,” the source said. Popular varieties of coconut oil have shown a dramatic increase. What were in the range of Rs 111- Rs 125 during the last Onam season have now shot up to Rs 169- Rs 185. There has also been a 5 percent increase over the last month. The rosy side to the increase in coconut oil prices has been the nearly 40 percent increase in the price of raw coconuts. If last Onam a coconut farmer sold 10 coconuts for '131, this time he pockets '180.
There is, however, a marked fall in the prices of pulses. Black gram that cost Rs 155 a kg last Onam is available for less than Rs 95 this time, Rs 102 now, a drop of 42 percent. This is a triumph of the LDF Government’s market intervention strategy. The prices of vegetables that are cultivated in the state - mainly ash gourd (kumbalanga), brinjal, snake gourd (padavalanga), and colocassia (chembu) – have shown an upward trend. The price of tomato, thanks to widespread pest attack, has risen precipitously, from Rs 15 a kg last Onam to '55 this time. Prices of bean varieties are galloping, up by nearly 80 percent since last Onam. The prices of vallipayar and achingapayar, in fact, rose by over 20 percent in the last month alone.
