KENDRAPARA: Vegetable growers of Kendrapara are sulking as prices of most greens, which were at an all-time high for last few months, have crashed across the district. However, onion and potato continue to maintain their rates.
This favourable winter weather has led to bumper production of bittergourd, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower cucumber, brinjal, ladyfinger, pumpkin, radish, tomato and other vegetables in the district. While the price of cabbage has come down by half from Rs 40 to Rs 20 per kg, brinjal is being sold at Rs 15 instead of Rs 30 per kg till a few days back . Similarly, the price of pumpkin has halved to Rs 15 per kg and tomato is now available for Rs 20 per kg.
Arakhita Das, a vegetable seller said even price of beans has dropped to Rs 15 per kg and cucumber to Rs 10 per kg. The sharp dip in price of vegetables has the farmers staring at losses owing to rise in input cost. On top of it, middlemen rake up profits by procuring vegetables from farmers in bulk at lower rates and selling them at skyrocketing prices in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and other cities.
Vegetables procured from farmers in the district are also being sold at retail malls in cities, said Mahadev Sutar of Rajkanika. President of district unit of Krusaka Sabha Umesh Chandra Singh said unavailability of cold storages in the district has forced farmers to sell their produce at throwaway prices.
The consumers are not complaining though. “Thanks to an arrival of winter crops in the markets, prices have crashed as much as 50 per cent compared to the last month. We hope potato and onion prices will fall too,” said Sanotsh Kar, a teacher.