THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid the hue and cry over the rise in the price of rice, the real villain is getting little attention. Among the food items, ranging from cereals to vegetables and tubers, the retail price of tapioca saw the maximum increase in October, a whopping 113% climb from the price in October 2021, shows the data from the Economics and Statistics Department.
The department has the state’s average prices calculated based on reports from select markets across Kerala. Tapioca was sold for Rs 44 a kg last month as against Rs 21 in October 2021. Experts attribute this to the drop in production after the big fall in tapioca prices in early 2021. The price fall was due to the mass production as part of the Subhiksha Keralam project launched by the government during the pandemic time.
“Several people opted for tapioca cultivation. Mass production resulted in low prices. In some places, farmers did not even harvest the crop. This year, they preferred other crops and there was a shortage in supply,” says Dr M N Sheela, director of the ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute.
Red chilli and shallot are in the second and third spots in the year-over-year comparison of food prices. The price of red chilli was Rs 312 a kg last month compared to `158 in the previous year, a 98% increase. Shallot price rose by 93%, from Rs 44 in October 2021 to `85 this year. Shallot was the commodity that saw the highest monthly rise in October. The price in September was Rs 62 a kg.
Among rice varieties, Jaya saw a 53% increase followed by chuvappu matta, 32% and Andhra vella, 28%. Vanpayar (red cowpeas) ranked top among pulses, 15.54%, followed by thuvaraparippu (tur dal), 11.52%. The price of raw chicken saw a 2% rise and mutton 3%. Chicken price was Rs 133 a kg last month as against Rs 112 in September.