Garlic prices up 90%

Garlic prices have risen by over 90 per cent due to limited supply from the major growing regions, traders said.

In Delhi, garlic prices have risen sharply from Rs 12 a kg to Rs 25 a kg in the wholesale market in the last 12 days alone, they said.“The supply of garlic is limited in the national capital due to poor arrival from key growing states — Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,” a trader from Azadpur wholesale mandi said.

The restricted supply of the commodity is putting pressure on prices both in the wholesale and retail market, he said. Garlic prices in the retail market are almost double than the wholesale prices.

Garlic prices have risen significantly in Delhi as compared to other metros. In Kolkata, garlic prices rose by 23.36 per cent to Rs 23 a kg from Rs 18 a kg, while in Mumbai, prices remained stable in the last 12 days at Rs 7.50 per kg in the wholesale market, National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) data showed.

Even though the prices of garlic are ruling the highest in Chennai at Rs 35 a kg, they increased slightly by 7.69 per cent during the review period, it said.

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are the largest suppliers of garlic to most states in Northern India, including Delhi. “Arrivals from these two states are not encouraging, owing to lesser crop in the 2008-09 season,” experts at Nasik-based NHRDF said.

Production of garlic in the largest producing state, Madhya Pradesh, is estimated to be lower by 65 per cent to 126,000 tonnes., while in Rajasthan, the output is seen falling to 0.53 lakh tonnes during 2008-09 from 0.83 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, the preliminary estimates of the government showed.