The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Andhra rains push up vegetable prices

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 24, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Andhra rains push up vegetable prices

Staff Reporter

The recent diesel hike has contributed to the rise in freight charges

CHENNAI: Chennaiites have to pay a little extra to buy vegetables because of the heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh and the recent hike in diesel price.

The city depends on Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, besides its neighbouring districts for vegetables.

The recent diesel hike has pushed up freight charges and the rains have affected transportation.

"As we are not receiving plentiful stock, even the wholesale price of vegetables has increased by Rs. 1 or Rs. 2 a kg," said Soundararajan, secretary of the Licensed Wholesale Vegetable Vendors Association of Koyambedu.

Green chilli, yam, beans and brinjal come from Andhra Pradesh and excess rainfall can affect the crops and prevent harvesting. Also, transportation becomes a problem. Hence, some of these vegetables have become a little costlier compared to last week's prices.

The diesel price hike has hit the cost in general. For instance, onion is sourced from Pune. Beetroot, cauliflower, capsicum and cabbage are from Karnataka. Freight charges per lorry load have jumped by Rs. 800 - Rs. 2,000, says vendors.

Chandran, treasurer of the Licensed Wholesale Vegetable Vendors Association says "we have to bear most of the increase in freight as we cannot pass it on to buyers. As the goods can perish, it is important to sell off the stock everyday." But, a marginal price hike is inevitable, he adds.

In the T. Nagar and Royapettah markets, a kilogram of carrot cost as much as Rs. 20 and beans Rs. 22. `Big' onions cost Rs. 17 a kg while the `sambar' onions cost Rs. 15.

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