With Ashadha setting in next month, and auspicious celebrations such as weddings and house warming ceremonies coming to a close, the vegetables now costs much lesser — some by even Rs 10 per kilo — and the prices are expected to stay around the existing bracket for at least two weeks.
Mahadeva of Yelwal, who is a wholesale trader of vegetables who supplies to the capital city Bangalore, and to neighbouring states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the reason is, supply has clearly overtaken demand.
“During the wedding season, the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is manifold. But, as Ashadha closes in, demand comes down, but the supply doesn’t since there is less coordination between farmers and the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC),” he noted.
As of now, every kilo of French beans cost Rs 12 (against Rs 22 on Sunday), tomato Rs 14 (Rs 18 on Sunday), onions Rs 12 (against Rs 17), etc, and among fruits, mango prices hovered around Rs 60 to 70 per kg across varieties which wasn’t a huge difference from earlier. But, with Balele in Kodagu getting a good yield of oranges, one can buy a kilo of this fruit for Rs 45 to 50 as against Rs 60 on Sunday.
Temporary phase
This phase may be temporary, but this news has sure brought a lot of relief into middle class households. They were faced with the threat of having to cut down on their share of vegetables, for the fear of overshooting the home food budget. However, the prices are expected to rise again, with rain intensifying in other parts of the South India, and up north too.
“Vegetables with lesser shelf life such as tomatoes are expected to get dearer with monsoon gaining ground. Greens such as coriander, palak and fenugreek leaves will also shoot up soon,” Mahadeva added.
“My vegetable vendor told me the prices will be low for a week or two before seeing a steep rise again. Wonder when we will be able to breathe easy and feed our family nutritious meals without thinking about money too much,” says Manjula Rao, a resident of Saraswatipuram.
