With prices of vegetables and fruits skyrocketing, Bangaloreans are experiencing an April-shock for their kitchen budget.
Prices of vegetables like cucumber, beans, knool-khol cauliflower, brinjal, green chillies, beetroot and spinach, and fruits like apple (Washington), grapes, musambi and pineapple have gone up sharply.
Horticulture officials give two reasons — one being festivals such as Ugadi, Vishu (Malayali new year) and Tamil new year, all falling close to each other, and the other being the hot summer. Nagini Chandrashekhar, Director, Horticultural Producers’ Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society Ltd (HOPCOMS), said, “This is the season for farmers to make money and increase prices.” She said during this season, farming does not yield much. The local consumption of some vegetables and fruits causes a short supply, and “the rates naturally go up”, she said
Abdulla Kutty, a wholesale fruit merchant at Russell Market, said prices had started increasing from March and this month, they will increase further. The demand for grapes and moosambi is high during this season, and huge stocks are being cleared every day.
Recently, D L Maheshwarappa, Director of Horticulture Department, said the hailstorm in early March in Gulbarga, Gadag, Chitradurga and Belgaum had resulted in a huge loss of crops and this will raise prices.
Prices - Then and Now
Vegetables Mar 3 April 1
Cucumber 45 24
Beans 64 44
Cauliflower 39 25
Knol Khol 44 22
Brinjal 20 13
Bitter Gourd 32 22
Bottle Gourd 24 20
Green Chillies 34 24
Palak Rs 24 one Bundle
Palak- Rs 28 one Bundle
Fruits Mar 10 April 1
Apple
(Washington) 216 190
Grapes
(Bangalore Blue) 38 26
Moosambi 49 45
Pineapple 46 38
This is the season for farmers to make money and increase prices
– NAGINI CHANDRASHEKHAR,
Director, HOPCOMS