Prices of fruits and vegetables have come down at the premium wholesale market complex in Koyambedu, thanks to the commencement of the crop season in different parts of the country.
While the vegetable rates have dropped by approximately 20 per cent this week, prices of fruits like apple, banana and mosambi were reduced as less as about 50 per cent, traders claimed.
According to S Chandran, president of the Koyambedu Periyar Wholesale Vegetable Market Merchants, the market received 550 trucks, each carrying 10 tonnes of vegetables, on Monday.
“The arrival of vegetables increased following the beginning of the crop season in the neighbouring states. For instance, if a trader from Oddanchatram in Dindigul district was sending 100 gunny bags of vegetables to Karnataka till last month, he would have reduced it by half as the yield in Karnataka would meet the local demand,” he said. Henceforth, the remaining 50 bags are diverted to the wholesale market in Chennai, contributing to the drop in vegetable prices, he added.
Currently, brinjal is sold anywhere between Rs 5 and Rs 8 per kilogram, while it was priced at Rs 10 10 days ago. Likewise, radish is now sold at a price range between Rs 6 and Rs 8, yam at Rs 18, carrot at Rs 15 and drumstick fir Rs 13. But onions and double beans continue to be sold at a static price of Rs 10 and Rs 40, respectively, Chandran said.
There is a marked difference in the rates of certain fruit varieties when compared with last month’s prices. Srinivasan, president of the Chennai Fruit Commission Agents Association, said that a kilogram of apple from Shimla was sold anywhere between Rs 80 and Rs120, which was a considerable dip.
“Shimla apples were sold at around Rs 225 per kilogram, about a month ago. The increase in the number of apples at the Koyambedu because of the good yield in Himachal Pradesh, the prices have dropped significantly,” he said. On an average, 300 tonnes of apple reach the Koyambedu market for sale by truck, he added.
The juicy mosambi and fibre-rich bananas cost less due to their abundant arrival from Andhra Pradesh and central Tamil Nadu, respectively. “The cyclone-hit Cuddalore district is back to business and is producing bananas to send it to the city market,” Srinivasan said.