Shallots beyond reach as price touches Rs 140/kg

Coimbatore: Shallot prices have doubled and touched a shocking Rs 140/kg from Rs 70 in a month's time in the city. Traders attributed low harvest due to water shortage last year followed by heavy rain which damaged the stock for the price rise. Supply from other states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka also thinned over the last two months, they said. Traders said the prices would remain high for at least two more months and would come down only after winter.

Prices of other vegetables have also shot up by 200%. President of Coimbatore Vegetable Traders Association S F Akbar Althaf said there was a shortage of stock in the last three months due to drought. "But farmers continued to grow the vegetables with available water. And when they started harvesting the crops, the heavy rain that lashed fields damaged shallots and other underground vegetables," he said. Vegetables growing above the ground were affected due to heavy rain as the flowers were damaged, he added.

S Basheer, a vendor said, "We get a lot of vegetables from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Since, there was heavy rain in these regions, we were unable to get supply of vegetables causing a rise in their prices."

The wholesale market traders said that it would take at least 20 days for the flowers to grow again. "But even if the rains stop, the winter dew will affect the leaves and cause damage to the plants. So the rates may fall by 50% but would still be high," said Basheer.

Coimbatore gets green chillies from Andhra Pradesh, brinjal, tomato from Karnataka and onions come from Maharashtra. Floods in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra is a major reason for the high rates of shallots. Coimbatore also gets its share of vegetables from other districts in Tamil Nadu such as Udumalpet, Dharapuram, Satyamangalm and Thalavadi.