TIRUCHY: After onions and tomatoes, it is now the turn of brinjal to reduce consumers to tears. Heavy rain over the past couple of days, has damaged harvest-ready crop in the district. The short supply has resulted in prices of the vegetable skyrocketing. Hard to believe, a kilo is sold anywhere between Rs. 80 to Rs. 100 in Gandhi Market. Worse still, the price is likely to remain the same for a few weeks.
The rain ravaged local produce has forced traders to procure hybrid variety from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Brinjal supplies to Gandhi Market have come down by two-thirds.
“Farmers from Manapparai, Manikandam, Kallanai and Perambalur are the major suppliers of brinjal in the district. But since crop has been damaged by rain, the price of brinjal has skyrocketed from Rs. 30 a kg to Rs. 80 in the wholesale market and to more than Rs. 100 per kg in the retail market. Apart from the native variety, hybrid brinjal which is brought from Andra Pradesh and Karnataka is available in the market,” said MK Kamalakannan, president, Tiruchy Gandhi Market Wholesalers Welfare Association. He added that prices of other vegetables like onions, shallots and potato have also shown a slight rise. Vimala, Deputy Director, Horticulture department, said the situation would improve when the next crop cycle begins. Brinjal is cultivated on 235 hectares across the district.