Vegetable prices soar after July flood fury in Kolhapur city

Kolhapur: A month after the Panchganga river swelled and submerged many parts of Kolhapur, its impact is still being felt. The combined effect of the damage to the crop and high demand during the month of Sharvan has sent

vegetable

prices soaring.

Vegetable vendors said that while the

prices

of tomatoes have fallen to as low as Rs 2 and Rs 4 a kilo in many parts of the state, they are still selling at Rs 15 a kilo in Kolhapur city markets.

At the same time, Brinjal is selling at Rs 80 a kg, compared to Rs 60 a kg last month. The prices of all vegetables have gone up by Rs 15-20 a kilo on an average. Capsicum is selling at Rs 20, lady’s finger at Rs 40, cluster beans at Rs 60, potato at Rs 30 and green peas at Rs 100 a kilo in the retail market.

Manisha Jadhav, a homemaker at Laxmipuri vegetable market, said that apart from tomatoes, all other vegetable are either selling at the same rate or on a higher side. “As the shravan month is ongoing, most people prefer to eat vegetarian food and there is a lot of demand for vegetables. This rise in prices has severely affected the home budgets in these difficult times.”

The

flood

last month damaged vegetable crop on an estimated 472 hectares, around 60% of which is grown in the Shirol taluka. It is considered the ‘vegetable basket’ of the region but gets severely impacted during flood.

Shirol taluka has the highest acreage of land under vegetable cultivation in the district. Farmers here grow the regular, organic and exotic vegetables and sell in the large urban markets. This has resulted in a significant drop in the arrival of vegetables from Shirol and other the local regions, forcing the traders and vendors to rely on getting the supply from adjoining districts and state to meet the high demand. The additional transportation costs and higher buying rates are reflecting in the local markets.

Raziya Sheikh, vendor at Shahupuri vegetable market, said that the supply got hit due to floods as the major vegetable producing region of Shirol faced heavy crop damage in the last month. “Every year, in the month of Shravan, the demand for vegetable increases. The increase in demand and low supply has led to a rise in the prices,” he said.

A vegetable vendor from Laxmipuri market, Jameer Bagwan, said that the vegetables have been selling at a higher side since the floods. However, the prices have gone up further over the past few days due to the demand.

In other parts of the state, the vegetable prices have come down, especially of the tomatoes, due to a glut in the market. Nashik farmers even threw crates of tomatoes on the road outside local markets on Thursday owing to the low rates they were offered in the auction.