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Vegetable prices have risen substantially in the past month, due to rainfall disruption at major producing centres.
Pointed gourd (parval), an unseasonal vegetable, is selling at the wholesale centre at Vashi, Navi Mumbai, for Rs 5,000 a quintal or Rs 50 a kg, as against Rs 900 a qtl or Rs 9 a kg a month before. Some are selling it at Rs 80-100 a kg.
“There is no season for pointed gourd. We are getting little supply from cold storages. That also got affected due to unseasonal rainfall,” said a senior mandi official.
Cauliflower and cabbage have risen 43 per cent in the past month to Rs 1,000 a quintal or Rs 10 a kg at the Vashi mandi. “The price remains elevated as the new supplies contain high moisture, which has fear of huge spoilage,” said Suryakant Dhawale, a cabbage wholesaler in Vashi.
Tomato’s price has surged to Rs 2,600 a qtl or Rs 26 a kg from Rs 1,700 a quintal or Rs 17 a kg a month before. “Its supply from Karnataka has got disrupted. Local supplies have covered the shortage but the price remains elevated due to short shelf life of locally supplied tomato,” said Dilip Gupta, a stockist in Vashi.
The retail price of tomato in Delhi was Rs 38 a kg on Thursday, a 72 per cent rise from Rs 22 a kg a month before.
The price of bitter gourd has risen 35 per cent in a month to Rs 4,200 a qtl or Rs 42 a kg at the Vashi mandi, although the National Horticulture Board estimates its output at 6.61 million tonnes in 2013-14, compared with 6.35 mt the previous year.
However, the price of bhindi (okra) and drumstick has not changed much.
“Retail consumers will have to live with elevated prices for some time. Until supply resumes fully, vegetable prices will continue to remain firm,” said a Vashi-based trader.
