India: Vegetable shortage makes produce unaffordable
With a few exceptions - such as cauliflower and cabbage - almost all vegetables are over Rs 50 per kg. Gourds and beans are particularly high in value right now, fetching around Rs60-80.
Vegetable wholesaler, Vilas Bhujbal said, “The low supply of vegetables in the wholesale market has impacted on prices. We are receiving less than half the normal supply of gourd, beans, cluster beans and cucumber in the market. Hence, the rates are higher.”
Pune gets its supply of vegetables from Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Ahmednagar. At times, vegetables arrive from neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also.
The prices are not just higher than usual, to some they are totally out of the question. Mahadev Shelar, a retailer at Mandai, said, “Only leafy vegetables, brinjal, bitter gourd, green peas and tomatoes are in rates affordable to common man.”
Source: www.dnaindia.com
