Wholesale-retail inflation gap the widest in vegetables and pulses

As a result, though consumers might have been paying more for these crops, farmers have gained little

Retail food inflation as measured by the consumer price index has persistently remained high since the last few months while the wholesale price index hasn’t risen in tandem.

CPI food inflation has remained above seven per cent all through the lockdown months and even after the curbs were removed in June.

The divergence between the two has always been the bane of Indian agriculture, but the gap widened substantially during the lockdown as supplies were disrupted.

After the lockdown slowly began being lifted June onwards, the variance too narrowed in the subsequent months, but not in a uniform manner across