English
The common man’s suffering is likely to increase in this festive season as vegetable prices continue to skyrocket due to the rains in the hilly regions of India. Vegetable prices in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi are touching the sky owing to rains in Himachal Pradesh.
According to market experts, the prices will normalise after Diwali when the vegetables from the north Indian plains will start hitting the market. Currently, consumers are depending largely on the hill state.
“The price of peas has doubled with its wholesale price in Shimla currently touching Rs 150-160 per kg as against Rs 70-80 per kg in this season a year ago,” Nahar Singh Chaudhary, a wholesaler in the Dhalli market near here, told IANS.
There has been a 100 per cent increase in the prices of tomatoes compared to the last year. The tomatoes are selling at Rs 60 in Chandigarh this year as compared to Rs 30 per kg last year. Peas, which are coming from the Karsog and Shimla areas, are selling from Rs 200-220 a kg in retail in Chandigarh.
Himachal Pradesh is also a major capsicum-producing state. It’s grown on about 1,200 hectares mainly in Solan, Shimla and Sirmaur districts. The state annually produces 100,000 tonnes of capsicum. In Chandigarh, the retail price of capsicum is around Rs 80 per kg.
“There is a huge demand for vegetables in the plains largely owing to the festive and marriage season. Since the production in the hills has declined by 40-50 per cent and the harvesting of vegetables in the plains is yet to pick up, the farmers of Himachal Pradesh are getting handsome prices,” Dilbagh Thakur, a vegetable trader in the Solan wholesale market, told IANS.
The prices will normalise only when the produce from Punjab and Haryana start reaching the mandis.
The rains in the hills added to the woes by damaging the vegetable crops this monsoon more than in the past. The outbreak of fungal disease also resulted in huge damage to the crops.
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