The Hindu : Front Page : Vegetable prices soar again

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Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009
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Vegetable prices soar again

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The prices of vegetables have skyrocketed in the last couple of days, upsetting many modest household budgets.

Though the prices had begun fluctuating after floods ravaged north Karnataka last month, the recent spell of rain — both in the city and elsewhere in the State — have pushed the prices up.

According to B. Mune Gowda, president of Horticulture Producers Marketing Cooperative Society (HOPCOMS), the recent rain around Bangalore has hit standing crops.

“Till the next crop is ready for harvest, vegetables’ scarcity and the resultant higher prices will continue,” he told The Hindu.

R. Suresh, a supervisor at HOPCOMS head office, attributed the high onion prices to shortage stemming from crop destruction following the deluge in north Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. “Potato too is scarce,” he added. Both have crossed the Rs. 30-mark.

Venkatesh, a vegetable dealer in the city, said the floods had also hit arrivals from Belgaum. “Belgaum is one of our main suppliers,” he said. “Bangaloreans, who depend on produce grown in north Karnataka, are feeling the impact,” said Mahalakshmi, a homemaker buying vegetables from a pushcart in Rajajinagar. Kempamma, the vendor, agreed. “These prices are driving my regular customers away,” she lamented.

Tomato, the common man’s vegetable, is being sold at prices ranging from Rs. 17 to Rs. 25 a kg, depending on the locality. Beans, another favourite, goes for anything from Rs. 26 to Rs. 40 a kg while carrot has touched Rs. 40 a kg in neighbourhood vegetable shops.

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