BHUBANESWAR : As the holy month of Kartik - when most households in Odisha shun non-vegetarian food - sets in, the sky high prices of vegetables are bringing unbearable pain to the people.
With almost all vegetables going far beyond the reach of the common man, there is an unlikely culprit behind the scheme of things - the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Along with the extreme weather from intense summer heat to a very active monsoon, rise in farming costs and other allied factors, the market is heaping equal blame on the elections for the dire situation.
According to market and farm experts, the timing of the elections this year and the intensity with which it was held have taken a toll on the farming activities. A sizeable section of the vegetable farmers delayed cropping due to their active involvement in the elections. And when they ventured to start their crop exercise, the continuous rains throughout the monsoon season did their share of damage.
Secretary of the Vegetable Traders’ Association in Bhubaneswar’s Unit-1 market, Kabiraj Swain said the elections during the cropping season kept many vegetable farmers away from their fields. “The production of vegetables this year is significantly low. As many farmers were otherwise busy in election campaign or other poll-related work in their villages during the elected season, vegetable farming was deferred.
Whatever little they planted later on after the elections was hit by the extreme heat and rains subsequently,” Swain said. Locally, a large variety of vegetables are grown in Angul, Athagarh, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Balangir, Koraput, Gajapati and Puri. At present ironically, potato which gave pain pangs just a month or so back is the only affordable vegetable in the market.
While in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, prices of almost all other vegetables have crossed the Rs 80 per kg mark, in Ganjam and Sambalpur, the price is hovering between Rs 50 and Rs 80. Similarly in Mayurbhanj and Balasore markets, every vegetable is selling above Rs 80.
Rains, high input cost, increase in paddy MSP also big reasons
Across the markets, prices of only onions and potatoes are stable at Rs 30-Rs 32 and Rs 40 to Rs 55, respectively, depending on the variety and quality. Commonly used vegetables like brinjal, lady’s finger, tomato and pointed gourd are selling between Rs 80 and Rs 100.
While some wholesalers attribute it to less local production, rains in main source markets like Bengaluru, Nasik and Andhra Pradesh have also affected the price. Cuttack’s Chhatra Bazaar Vegetable Traders’ Association secretary Debendra Sahoo said at a time when local production is low, heavy rains in the above-mentioned three states have hit the supply to Odisha. Worse, the extent of wastage in the procured vegetables is extremely high, he said.
A farmers’ leader in Bargarh Hara Bania also attributed the price hike to high input cost in vegetable farming. “The labour cost has gone up from Rs 300 to Rs 500 now. Fertilisers and pesticides have risen by 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Vegetable farming is no longer a profitable option for farmers unless they sell their produce at higher rates. Besides, with increase in paddy MSP now, farmers will focus on growing paddy,” he said.
Traders said the scenario will not change till the next batch of locally-grown vegetables arrive in the markets during winter.