Vegetable And Fruit Prices Rise

Retail prices for vegetables, eggs, and poultry meat remain high in Kolkata markets, causing suffering for the common man. Tomato prices have soared to Rs 80-100 per kg from Rs 45-50 a month ago, while Brinjal is selling for Rs 110-140 per kg, a jump of nearly 150 per cent from early June, greengrocers in several markets in the city said. Prices of several other vegetables such as bitter gourd, green chilli and bottle gourd have also increased by an average of 50 per cent. Egg and poultry meat prices have risen by 20-30 per cent in local markets. "Now tomatoes in Bengal are coming from other states. There is a short supply of tomatoes from Bangalore and Himachal Pradesh due to heat waves and heavy rain. The production was hit due to heat waves and disruptions in logistics due to heavy rain," a source in West Bengal Vendors Association told PTI. Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said that people are facing price pain since the Centre reduced support for farmers in ...

Traders have attributed this spike to higher exports, rising transportation and storage costs, and a widening gap between demand and supply

Vegetables and fruit have become costlier in select wholesale and retail markets since August, due to weak supply following incessant rain and worry of crop damage in major producing centres. Data compiled by the government-owned National Horticulture Board (NHB) showed the price of okra (ladyfinger) in Delhi at Rs 24 a kg on Tuesday from Rs 13.5 a kg on August 1. Similarly, prices of other vegetables have moved up, albeit by less. In some markets, some prices declined but that was attributed to farmers' premature harvesting to reap the benefit of a price rise.Fruit is also costlier in Delhi wholesale markets, with prices of papaya and pineapple up 14.3 per cent and 34.8 per cent to trade at Rs 12 kg and Rs 31 a kg, respectively. Mosambi in Chennai and sapota (chikoo) in Bengaluru also moved up. Retail markets have moved up with the wholesale markets, with some exceptions.With the trend likely to continue for the short term, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) looks set to rise in ...