Kerala - Kozhikode   

Vegetable prices to remain high

Kozhikode: Prices of vegetables will remain high for some more days though the three-day nationwide strike by truckers was called off on Friday morning. The prices are likely to cool off only after a couple of days. The most affected will be weekend shoppers. The city depends on vegetables from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Vegetable merchants say most varieties arrive from the wholesale markets particularly from Tamil Nadu. Retail greengrocers had procured vegetables when the prices were high. “Obviously we will pass the burden on to the consumers,” says P. Reghu, a vendor at Nadakkavu.

The prices of most vegetables climbed when the truckers’ strike began on July 1. The rates of onions, potatoes and tomatoes went up by 20 per cent while the prices of carrot and drumsticks scaled almost 70 per cent last week.

A kilo of onion was sold in the retail market for Rs.10 on Friday. The price of tomatoes, Rs.9; potatoes, Rs.12; drumstick, Rs.30; carrot, Rs.25; banana, Rs.22, cowpea beans, Rs.20; okra, Rs.15; pumpkin, Rs.8; spinach, Rs.12; puthina, Rs.30; coriander leaves, Rs.30; yam, Rs.15; palak, Rs.15; green chillies, Rs.25 and brinjal, Rs.14.

The truckers’ strike had the least impact on vegetables such as banana, yam, cucumber, pumpkin and spinach. “These vegetables are grown in the State. The prices of puthina, palak and coriander leaves have not been affected as traders transport them as luggage in passenger buses from other States,” he says.

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