ROURKELA: AMID surplus production of local vegetables, prices of the produces continue to be on an all-time low in and around Rourkela city much to the cheer of consumers, but the growers and vendors are not happy.
At retail markets of the city, vegetables are abundantly available for the past two months and consumers are pleasantly surprised at the low prices, not seen in many years.
Source said 3 kgs of tomato are available for Rs 10, while cabbage and cauliflower are sold for Rs 5 and Rs 10 per kg, respectively. Garden peas are virtually flooding the markets as its price rose slightly from Rs 12 to Rs 15, which has never been sold below Rs 40. Bean, carrot and brinjal are available for Rs 10 per kg and radish is sold at Rs 15 per kg. Capsicum is priced at Rs 20 per kg while beetroot is available for Rs 30 per kg. Price of bottle gourd has also dipped to Rs 5 from Rs 10-12. Raw jackfruit is selling at Rs 30 per kg while raw banana is priced at Rs 25 per kg. Even coriander leaf has become cheaper at Rs 50-60 per kg while green chilly sells at Rs 40 per kg. Only drum sticks, sourced from outside Sundargarh district, are costlier at Rs 60 per kg.
K N Singh, a city resident, said he is amazed at the cheap prices of vegetables. During winter season, availability of vegetables rises leading to moderate vegetable prices, but the present phenomenon is surprising, he added.
However, local vegetable growers are complaining that they are not getting better return. A vendor, Phulmani Kalo, said transportation cost remains the same but even after selling 30 kgs, she is not able to get enough profit.
Retired District Agriculture Officer of Panposh sub-division R K Mangal said the city market procures vegetables from leading producers of Nuagaon block followed by Bisra, Kuanrmunda and Lathikata blocks. Tribal vendors from adjacent Jharkhand also bring vegetables to the city on a daily basis and all these areas have seen bumper productions, he added.
Mangal claimed that vegetable farmers would not suffer much loss as vegetable crops are harvested in phases. After a fortnight, the prices would stabilise bringing relief to the growers, he said.