The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Great manipulation in non-perishable items

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Great manipulation in non-perishable items

Anil Kumar Sastry

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

No room: You cannot monkey around much with vegetable prices.

BANGALORE: There was a time when prices of vegetables, fruits and flowers used to constantly fluctuate — soar during festival and marriage seasons and plummet during off season. Well aware of this market behaviour, people used to buy them wisely.

However, for the last couple of years, the prices of these daily needs appear to have remained more or less constant throughout the year, but on the higher side. Prices of groceries, including that of rice, wheat and dals, which shot up by Rs. 4 to Rs. 10 a kg in 2004, have not seen any reversal as have prices of edible oils, which hover around Rs. 80 a litre.

According to rough estimates, Bangalore requires not less than 2,000 tonnes of vegetables and fruits a day. The requirement, according to stakeholders, is catered to by farmers around Bangalore and including those in Ramanagara, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan and Kolar districts.

The prices of a few extensively consumed vegetables such as beans, capsicum, lady’s finger and carrot have not crashed beyond Rs. 15 a kg. In fact, beans, whose price had gone up to Rs. 40 during Deepavali, was being sold at Rs. 28 a kg on Monday. Similarly, prices of fruits such as apple, orange, musambi (sweet lime) and white grapes have not come down beyond Rs. 45, Rs. 30, Rs. 25 and Rs. 40 respectively.

Balakrishna, a retail vegetable merchant on Ullalu Main Road, says he might not continue in the business for long because of the increasing prices. There is a large variation between the wholesale price and the retail price even taking into account wastage and retailer’s margin. Such lack of correlation speaks about absence of a proper regulatory or guiding mechanism governing retail prices. The Department of Agricultural Marketing concerns itself only with wholesale prices and, according to a merchant, the Marketing Committees are interested in the commission.

While middlemen or merchants dealing with perishable commodities such as vegetables and fruits have few options in manipulating prices, those dealing with cereals and pulses do have a greater option to manipulate retail prices.

A typical instance is Sona Masuri paddy being procured at less than Rs. 900 a quintal and Sona Masuri rice at around Rs. 1,500 a quintal. In retail, Sona Masuri rice is sold at a minimum of Rs. 20 and maximum of Rs. 24 a kg. The prices of black gram dal and tur dal, which had crossed Rs. 40 mark three years back, have not come down.

Big players

The entry of big players into retail marketing of vegetables and fruits appears to have made some impact on retail prices of essential commodities.

Reliance Fresh, Safal Daily Fresh and Greens and Grains, main players in the vegetable and fruits sector, procure major quantity of their inputs directly from farmers. These players have opened a number of outlets across the city and the prices are relatively lesser than those prevailing in individual shops.

However, retail prices of cereals and pulses prevailing at retail chain shops, such as Big Bazaar, Food World, Fab Mall, Subhiksha, Spencers and others are no less than what is prevailing in neighbourhood shops. In fact, neighbourhood shops often offer more discount on packed grocery items than these retail giants. Also, vegetables and fruits at these retail chains are equal to or sometimes pricier than those elsewhere.

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