Weather pushes up veggie prices in Bengaluru | Bengaluru News – Times of India

BENGALURU: Incessant rain pushed up prices of most vegetables by a minimum 30% over the past week, as wet weather shortens shelf-life of greens. While supply has fallen, demand has remained constant, leading to price spike in the process.
An employee from Hopcoms (Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society) said, “…We have been receiving continuous rain for the last two months and the rates have therefore gone up. If showers continue for another week, the prices are likely to go up by another 10%.”
Almost all greens are costing about Rs 100 a bundle as their shelf-life is just about 24 hours in this weather. On the other hand, the price of onion, surprisingly, has remained constant for about two weeks as fresh supplies have come in. But prices of carrot, cauliflower, tomato, okra and potato nearly doubled in the past seven days.
“While some people have replaced tomatoes with tamarind, many others are buying half of what they used to and coming back later for fresh stock,” the Hopcoms employee said. He explained that 60% of Bengaluru’s tomato supply comes from Kolar and the remaining 40% is grown in the city’s immediate neighbourhood. “Currently, there is no supply from Kolar, meanwhile we are getting only 5% of what is cultivated here.”
Mohammed Idris Choudary, general secretary, Russell Market Traders Association, said vegetables perish within a day or two when exposed to more moisture. “Veggie prices have gone up by 100% and it’s scary for us traders. No doubt farmers are most affected as they tend to lose a lot of produce that rot in the farm itself. Additionally, some farmers find transportation difficult,” he added.
While the price rise has resulted in most farmers losing money, a few have made some profit too. RV Gopi, president of Vegetables and Fruits Wholesale Merchants Association, said: “Farmers with good yield have made considerable profit due to price rise. On the other hand, most others have incurred losses with their produce decaying in the rain.”