JOIN USHome budgets go haywire as vegetable prices shoot up
This summer, it is not just the mercury levels but also the prices of vegetables that are rising in the City. Bangaloreans have already started feeling the pinch.
There has been a constant rise in the prices of vegetables since the first week of April. Also, there has been at least 20 per cent increase in the prices of the produce as compared with the previous week.
H K Nagaveni, president of the Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (Hopcoms), told Deccan Herald that prices of vegetables normally shoot up in April every year. However, she said that the hike is comparatively more this summer as the vegetable production has been hit due to the rise in temperature and scarce rainfall.
The official said that the prices will be on the higher side till the end of this month.
“Due to summer rainfall, vegetable production had picked up. But, they are perishing in the fields, due to the rise in the mercury levels,” Nagaveni said.
The City gets its supply of vegetables mainly from Anekal, Hoskote and other places in Bangalore Urban and Rural districts, Malur and other places in Kolar district, besides parts of Chikkaballapur district.
The supply has been affected due to dip in production in these places, she said.
“Earlier, the yield of vegetables per hectare was around 10 tonnes. This season, it has come down to five to six tonnes a hectare,” she said.
The increasing prices have only made the middleclass and those from the lower economic strata think twice before buying any of these vegetables.
“It is becoming difficult to buy vegetables from local shops and pushcarts as they have been selling at high prices. It is relatively cheaper at Hopcoms outlets,” said Asha, a Malleswaram resident.
“At the neighbourhood shops, a kg of tomato, brinjal and onion are being sold at Rs 25, Rs 30 and Rs 35, respectively. The prices are increasing every week,” she said.
Hamsaveni, a homemaker in Basaveshwaranagar, said, “A few days ago, only onions were costly. But of late, prices of all vegetables have gone up. Middle-class families like ours are finding it too difficult.”
The rising prices have also hit the sales and thereby, the earnings of vendors.
“Despite the extreme heat, every morning I go to different localities, selling vegetables. But not many come forward to buy them, saying the prices are high,” said pushcart vendor Ningappa, who was spotted in Indiranagar.
Puttanna, another vendor in the Malleswaram market, said that most people frown and
go away without buying vegetables, after enquiring the prices.
“They suspect that we ourselves have jacked up the prices. But, that is not the reality,” he said.