Supply from HP hit, veggie prices soar

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 21

Widespread rain in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh has hit the supply of fresh vegetables to Punjab, leading to a sharp rise in the prices of peas, tomatoes, beans and cauliflower.

The retail price of tomatoes in Jalandhar has shot up from Rs 20-25 per kg to Rs 80-90. Peas cost Rs 110-120 per kg, up from Rs 70-80, according to traders in the vegetable mandis of Bathinda, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Chandigarh.

Vishal Gulati, president, Old Sabzi Mandi Retailer Welfare Association, Jalandhar, said, “The prices will remain high during the next month too. In the rainy season, there is usually a fluctuation in prices, but this time it’s on the higher side.”

Banwari Lal, a commission agent in the Sector 26 fruit and vegetable market, Chandigarh, said the supply of tomatoes had reduced drastically from states such as Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana due to the rains. “The government should provide cold storage facilities so that the prices don’t increase substantially in case of crop losses,” he said.

Due to timely transplantation of paddy and lower market prices in the past, farmers ploughed back their vegetable crops. Baljit Singh, a Patiala-based tomato grower, said, “I had sown tomato on around two acres. In May, the prices in the wholesale vegetable market started falling, so I ploughed the crop into the fields. Two months later, the rate of one crate of tomato — which we had sold for just Rs 50 — has reached around Rs 1,500.”

During these months, traders depend on supplies from HP for green vegetables such as peas, cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum and tomato.

The spiral effect is visible on the retail prices of other vegetables, including beans and cucumber. While the price of beans has risen from Rs 50 per kg to Rs 60-70, cauliflower is selling at around Rs 60-70 per kg (up from Rs 50). A Jalandhar-based housewife, Baljeet Kaur, said: “I have started using puree as an alternative to fresh tomatoes so to keep my kitchen expenses within the budget.”

In Bathinda, vegetables costing Rs 20-30 till last week are now selling for Rs 70-80.

The prices of seasonal vegetables are also upwardly mobile. Apple gourd (tinda), which was available for Rs 30 per kg, is now selling at Rs 70 per kg. The rate of ridge gourd (tori) has doubled. The price of cauliflower is up from Rs 40 to Rs 75 per kg. Coriander now costs Rs 100-150 per kg.

(With inputs from Avneet Kaur, Sukhmeet Bhasin, Harinder Khaira, Manav Mander, Neeraj Bagga and Vijay C Roy)