The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Vegetable sales down as prices go up

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Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Vegetable sales down as prices go up

Sharath S. Srivatsa

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Taking the demon head-on: An effigy symbolising price rise during a protest by the SUCI in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BANGALORE: The steep increase in the prices of vegetables in recent weeks has resulted in fall in consumption as vegetable vendors — both organised and unorganised — have reported fall in sales.

The soaring prices of vegetables in the last four to six weeks has been attributed to reduced arrivals in the market owing to heavy rain in the Mysore region leading to crop losses. On an average, vegetable prices have increased by 15 to 20 per cent compared with what was prevalent in March.

“In recent days, we have observed that consumers who were buying one kg of vegetable are buying around half a kg to cope with the price rise,” Horticultural Producers’ Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS) General Manager H.M. Krishnappa told The Hindu.

HOPCOMS, the largest vegetable retailer in the city, selling around 70 tonnes of vegetables daily in June and July, has seen a fall in sales by about 20 per cent.

Cluster beans and chow chow that are grown as secondary crop in the fields near Magadi, and which would normally be around Rs. 6 have reached Rs. 18 and Rs. 14 respectively on Tuesday.

Mr. Krishnappa said the prices of some vegetables are expected to reduce in the coming days as vegetables grown in the vicinity of Bangalore will start arriving. Carrots started to arrive on Monday.

A senior HOPCOMS official, who said that prices have started reducing since the last one week, cautioned that it could go up again since the marriage and festival season commences in a few days. “We hope that the increase in demand will be offset by arrivals,” he said.

“Though customers are buying, the average purchase has come down. Customers are blaming the rise in vegetable prices, especially those that are consumed daily. The price rise has hit our business too,” said Manjula, a vegetable vendor in Gandhi Bazaar. The retail prices have soared following increase in the wholesale prices over which we have no control, she said.

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