Hyderabad: This summer, the prices of vegetable in the city refuse to rise like earlier summers.
Given good crops and consequently, huge arrivals of vegetables into the city markets, most vegetables are priced low and affordable. If tomatoes come at Rs 9 a kg in the city vegetable markets, potatoes can be picked up at Rs 20 per kg.
This kind of low pricing during season, traders say, is unusual with one of them explaining that traditionally vegetable prices rise considerably during the summers. “It is not usual to have such affordable price tags for most vegetables during the month of April,” points out one of the traders.
During summers, vegetable prices skyrocket due to shortage of arrivals from neighbouring districts. Usually, the price adjustments happen in April and May as the summer and resultant water scarcity end up impacting vegetable cultivation and its produce.
At rythu bazaars, a kg of tomato on Sunday was sold at Rs.9 and the sellers were prepared to bring down the price further if more quantities were bought. If a kg of brinjal was available for Rs.11, lady fingers cost Rs 18 a kg, and a kg of carrot was priced at Rs.16.
Apart from these, onions were being sold at very affordable prices raging from Rs.15 to Rs.20 a kg.
The production of vegetables from the districts of Rangareddy, Medak, Mahabubnagar, Vikarabad and other parts of Telangana and also from Andhra Pradesh remained high. Subsequently, the supplies to Hyderabad are higher and the quantities of vegetables entering the markets of Bowenpally, LB Nagar, Mehdipatnam, Kukatpally and Erragadda have improved considerably.
By evening time, most vendors at rythu bazaars and other vegetable markets were found disposing off the stocks at whatever price they could fetch. “There is no point returning home with stocks, so we sell at whatever price we can get,” said J Shekhar, a vendor in Erragadda rythu bazaar.
However, farmers at rythu bazaars said the prices could escalate as the summer peaks in the month of May leading to a drop in production. However, compared to previous summers, the vegetable prices may not be too high this time, they added.
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