Uneven rains hit fruit and veggie output, supplies

Prices of fruits and vegetables have shot up as excessive rainfall in northern states coupled with rainfall deficiency in the east and south so far this monsoon season have hit production and supply of agricultural commodities including rice.

Apart from tomatoes, which are selling at ₹140 for a kg at Azadpur wholesale market in New Delhi, prices of almost all the vegetables including green peas, French beans, ginger, and coriander have doubled and are selling well above ₹100 per kg in the wholesale market.

These harvest-ready vegetables, which are grown and dispatched from Himachal, have been destroyed by the torrential rains in state. Supply of apples has also completely stopped, trade insiders said.


At the same time, sowing of paddy in major rice producing states remains about one-fourth less than last year due to rainfall deficit. Paddy sowing lags by 68% in Chhattisgarh, 66% in Odisha, 56% in Madhya Pradesh, 52% in Karnataka, 22% in Haryana, 17% in Punjab, and 2% in West Bengal, according to government data.

All India retail prices of potato, onion and tomato have climbed 14.18%, 18.57% and 293.95%, respectively, in the last one month, according to the price monitoring division of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Price of rice has increased by 3.70% in the last one year.

The biggest cause of soaring vegetable prices is untimely excessive rains in Himachal, traders said. "Vegetables from Himachal cater to the needs of the entire north India," said Sanjay Bhagat, secretary of Shimla Gobi Traders' Association at Azadpur market.