Skyrocketing veggie prices hit common man hard

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Jalandhar, July 19

The kitchen budget of most households has been affected as the prices of most vegetables during the monsoon have skyrocketed.

While tomatoes cost Rs 100 per kg in the Maqsudan mandi on Friday, most vendors, giving a doorstep service, sold it for Rs 120. The price of tomatoes had seen a sudden spike from Rs 60 per kg a fortnight ago to Rs 80 last week.

Prices in Maqsudan mandi per kg

• Beans : Rs 80
• Capsicum: Rs 80
• Ladyfinger: Rs 60
• Bitter gourd: Rs 40
• Brinjal : Rs 50
• Cauliflower: Rs 80

Puree better option

I plan to buy one litre of puree from a grocer as the tomato prices are likely to remain high for the next few weeks. Puree is economically viable option this season.Rs Sonia Sharma, Model Town resident

Stall owners in the mandi said the local tomato produce had already been sold out. “We are now getting most vegetables, including tomatoes, from Himachal Pradesh, where farmers have formed a cartel and jacked up the prices,” said Balram, a stall owner.

He said like the last year, tomato prices could see a further rise in prices this season too. The vegetable prices had seen a major hike in the summer season as well.

In the mandi, round gourd (tinda) was available at Rs 100 per kg, beans for Rs 80, capsicum for Rs 80, ladyfinger for Rs 60, bitter gourd for Rs 40 and brinjal for Rs 50 per kg. Cauliflower price, too, is up at Rs 80 a kg.

The prices of basic vegetables used in making gravy have also gone up. Onion is being sold at Rs 40 per kg, garlic for Rs 240 and ginger for Rs 200.

Homemakers say that it is the tomato price that is upsetting their budget the most. “I plan to buy one litre of puree from a grocer as the tomato prices are likely to remain high for the next few weeks. Puree is economically viable option this season,” said Sonia Sharma, a Model Town resident.

A dhaba owner of Ladowali road said, “Our profit margin comes down whenever vegetable prices soar. We have to use other measures to cut down the costs. We have stopped giving onion salad to customer free of cost with a meal and will have to be rather stingy or to revise our menu rates for another three months. Vegetable prices will start becoming normal mid-October.”