Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

• Rising trend has been attributed to short supply from regular sources
• People are forced to reduce quantity of purchase
• ‘Vegetable crops in Bangalore rural, Mandya and Mysore have been hit by rains’

Mangalore, Oct 25: Vegetable prices have soared here in the past one week, forcing consumers to either reduce their spending or shell out more money.

Prices of some vegetables almost doubled in the central market here in a day.

According to Hameed Kandak, secretary, Mangalore Central Market Merchants Association, the price of beans had risen from Rs. 23 a kg on Thursday to Rs. 42 a kg on Friday. The price of carrot, which was Rs. 28 a kg on Thursday, ruled at Rs. 40 a kg on Friday. The local variety of lady’s finger was priced at Rs. 40 a kg on both the days. However, the price of brinjal went up by Rs. 3 in one day to Rs. 16 a kg on Friday. The price of tomato went up by Rs. 2 to Rs. 24 on Friday while ginger and coriander leaves were priced at Rs. 38 a kg and Rs. 35 a kg, respectively, on both the days. “These are wholesale prices at central market. Retail merchants at terminal markets were quoting Rs. 3 to Rs. 5 more than the whole sale price on Friday,” he said.

The retail outlets, owned by Dakshina Kannada District Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (DK Hopcoms) were selling carrot at Rs. 44 a kg, coriander leaves Rs. 40 a kg, beans Rs. 42 a kg and tomatoes Rs. 24 a kg. The price of ginger in these outlets was Rs. 33 a kg, said Ravichandra Shetty, manager, DK HOPCOMS.

Asha Jagadeesh, a homemaker, said that a vegetable seller at Kodical quoted Rs. 44 a kg for carrot on Thursday itself. A bundle of “basale soppu”, a local green leaf, priced at Rs. 10 each a week ago, ruled at Rs. 15 a bundle on Thursday at Kodical, she said.

D. Shobha from Padil-Bajal, who works in a private firm, said that the prices of all vegetables had shot up since past one month. “Tomato is too expensive. Carrot has become unaffordable,” she said.

Mr. Kandak said that the vegetable crops in Bangalore rural, Ramanagara and Mandya districts had been hit by rains and hence the local market, which gets vegetables mainly from these districts, had been affected. “There is short supply of vegetables,” he said.

“Prices of vegetables in Mangalore this season normally remains at less than half the prices that are ruling this year.

The prices have risen because of short supply,” he said. Mr. Shetty said that the society had reduced the quantity of purchase from Bangalore because of the price factor. “Now, we are sourcing the vegetables from Chikmagalur district as they are cheaper there. However, in terms of quality, the vegetables from Bangalore are better,” he said.

Mr. Kandak said: “The central market used to get eight to nine lorry loads of vegetables from Bangalore, Mandya and Ramanagara during week days.

However, on Friday only four lorry loads arrived at the central market. On Saturdays and Sundays the city used to get an average 12 lorry loads of vegetables against the recent trend of seven loads a day.”