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Vegetable prices jumped upto 100 per cent so far this month in local market here on reduced supply from state farmers due to acute shortage of water for irrigation. Sudden rise in temperature has also caused damage to harvested crop while on transit in vehicles.
While prices of unseasonal vegetables like pointed gourd (parval) remained very high with occasional buying were witnessed in spot Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Vashi, market due to its sporadic availability in limited quantity.
"There is no benchmark price for parval today. Vendors, even little quantity, get any price they quote. At the current prevailing price of Rs 80-100 a kg, only super rich consumers can buy parval today. Parval was quoted at Rs 50-60 a kg in the beginning of this month," said Sanjay Bhujbal, a stockiest.
Interestingly, however, commonly traded vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, bitter gourd and ladies finger remained rangebound. Their prices either have fallen little bit or remained unchanged by and large.
B B Matore, Deputy Secretary, APMC (Vegetable section), Vashi, attributed the steady rise in their prices of sensitive vegetables like brinjal and leafy ones due to sudden change in climatic condition.
"Temperature has risen sharply in the last few days which enhances changes of spoilage of sensitive vegetables that have high moisture content. Leafy vegetables may see immediate spoilage especially in transit which would create their shortage in the market. Therefore, vegetables will become even more costlier in coming days and remain up until March - end, April beginning," said Matore.
The Third Advanced Estimate of horticulture production released recently by the Ministry of Agriculture showed, India's beans output to decline in 2013-14 at 1.21 million tonnes as against 1.27 million tonnes reported in the previous year.
By contrast, however, principal vegetables like bittergourd, brinjal, cabbage and cauliflower output is estimated to have risen significantly. In the current crop progressing year, however, the production scenario remained unfavourable.
Major vegetable producing states like Maharashtra witnessed a sharp decline in acreage, according to APMC (Vashi) officials, due to delay in kharif crop harvesting and proportionate delay in field preparations. Even sown crops were damaged due to unseasonal rainfalls and hailstorms in January, the flowering season of most of early variety vegetables.
Most importantly, large farmers managed to sow seeds with their own irrigation facility. But, rainfall dependent farmers could not sow seeds due to the lack of moisture in the field. Therefore, vegetables like tomato will remain in short supply.
"The season until now, local supply proved adequate. But, going forward, we will have to depend upon supply from Karnataka which may prove costlier. Hence, until supply from alternative source hits the market, tomato prices will remain firm," said Matore.
During previous seasons, however, local supply was enough for meeting demand from Maharashtra till March -end.
"Apart from that, quality of early variety vegetables with use of captive irrigation facility was very good. Since, those early variety vegetables have already been harvested, the quality of new arrivals is not upto the mark. Therefore, stockists feel that the good quality vegetables exhausted from local farmers. Hence, prices have started firming up. The price rise will continue for few more weeks," Matore added.
