Vegetables Prices to Be Normalised by First Week of July: Official

Hyderabad: Here is some good news for people who are paying exorbitant amounts for buying vegetables.

According to experts from the state agriculture marketing department, there will be near normalcy of vegetable prices in the next two to three weeks.

They pointed that one of the main factors for the steep prices was the particularly severe summer this year.

Apart from the general public, even those running eateries, canteens and hostels are so hit by the prices of vegetables that they have reduced their procurements and orders by almost half.

Salman, who sells vegetables on a bike, explained, “I move in residential localities, where almost every family makes a bill of anything between Rs 50 and 100. Now each vegetable is costing around Rsv 100 per kg. If we hike prices, they don’t buy. We have hardly earned anything in the last few days.”

Gaddam Ravi of Sri Manikanta vegetable supplies, Monda Market, “prices of leafy vegetables have more than doubled — a bunch of coriander, which used to cost around Rs 10 is now priced Rs 50; pudina has doubled from `10 to `20; chilli that was sold for Rs 20 to Rs 30 is now Rs 80 per kg; the price of beans has skyrocketed from around Rs 40 a kg to a mindboggling Rs 140; spring onions now cost Rs 100; capsicum Rs 80, custard beans Rs 80; ridge gourd `100 and lady finger Rs 80.”

Joint director of TS Agricultural marketing department, K. Rajashekar Reddy said, “we usually come across such situations during the end of summers. This year as the temperatures were high, prices of vegetables took a beating. Prices should come down by July first or second week.”