NEW DELHI – Prices of key vegetables, including tomato and potato, have risen this week in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other cities due to trading in the futures market and hoarding, impacting the common man. Other cities are also facing the brunt of the price rise.
Soaring of tomato retail prices to Rs 40 a kg in Delhi is also due to high exports to Pakistan and late arrivals of the produce from Himachal Pradesh, according to traders. Potato, brinjal, tomato and green peas have become costly in Delhi, leading to reduced intake, they said. A Mumbai report said, potato is selling at Rs 14 a kg in retail this week against Rs 10 per kg last week. Similarly, cost of tomato and brinjal have also rocketed in the metropolis.
Reports from Chennai and Kolkata echoed similar trend. Tomato sold at Rs 20-25 a kg in Chennai’s main Koyambedu market. Similarly potato was available at Rs 9-11 per kg and brinjal Rs 10-22/kg there, the report said. Data of Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Azadpur (Asia’s largest wholesale fruits &vegetables market), said potato is selling in the range of Rs 6-10.50 a kg over the past two days, pushing up its retail price considerably.
Brinjal is available for Rs 6-16 per kg, while tomato is selling at Rs 5-22/kg. The only solace is that cost of kitchen staple onion is stable at Rs 10-15 a kg in retail in Delhi. National Horticulture Development Foundation (NHRDF),an arm of ICAR, said that prices of potato in major cities have risen. Nashik-based NHRDF Director R K Gupta said the recent rise in prices of potato and other vegetables in the country seems to have been triggered by bulk buying in the future markets and also due to hoarding.
