Why vegetable prices are on the boil

Expected delay in harvesting might keep commodities elevated for a month

While the wholesale price index might have turned negative primarily due to a steep decline in the prices of non-food articles, rising vegetable prices kept food articles firm in May.

While drumstick prices showed a sharp rise of 130 per cent, articles of mass consumption such as brinjal, cabbage, bitter gourd and cauliflower recorded an upswing of 50 per cent in the past month. Vegetable price started moving up with the first forecast of deficient monsoon rainfalls made in April.

The forecast of deficient monsoon rainfalls scared farmers.

Consequently, farmers with their own irrigation facility delayed sowing of vegetables seeds this year.

In past years, however, these farmers used to sow seeds early to harvest vegetables in the peak festive demand season of August-September.

“This year, the season is about a month late due to farmers’ delay in sowing. Farmers delayed sowing amid fears of crop losses in case of uneven distribution of monsoon rainfalls,” said an official.

In Delhi, however, vegetable prices showed a mixed trend with a number of them shooting up on reduced supply but others slumping on huge arrivals. Stockists dumped their inventory into Azadpur mandis ahead of the new season sowing.

Vegetable supply into major mandis was disrupted by the lack of transport availability from production centres to consumption points.

Arrivals of cauliflower, for example, slumped to 114 tonnes in mandi here on June 12, compared to 153 tonnes a month ago.

Transport of cucumber in Azadpur mandi of Delhi fell to 293.2 tonnes on Friday, against 322.1 tonnes on May 12.

“Consumers will have to bear with high vegetable price for over a month due to reduced supply from stockists this year.

"Normally, supply of leafy vegetables remains low during monsoon rainfalls due to high change of spoilage.

"The quality of arrived quantity is also not up to the mark with reduced shelf life,” said Samir Inamdar, a ladies finger trader at Vashi Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee.

Among vegetables, ladies finger prices fell after hitting a high to trade currently at Rs 2,300 a quintal at Vashi APMC.

“The quality of stored vegetables in warehouses worsened due to absorption of high moisture following unseasonal rainfalls and hailstorms in February-March this season.

"The quantity, which arrives in mandis required thorough shortage and speedy consumption.

"Hence, the quantity of release will decline gradually in the next two months.

"So, consumers will have to bear with high vegetable prices this year,” said a senior official at Vashi APMC.

Meanwhile, the National Horticulture Board in its first advanced estimate forecast vegetable output to remain at 163 million tonnes this year, compared to 162.89 million tonnes of output reported in 2013-14.

The agriculture ministry has emphasised raising the production of vegetables this year through abundant supply of quality seeds.