Walk into the Model Rythu Bazaar at Erragadda on any given day in summer, and the prices of vegetables never fail to surprise you. For, they have been changing since the past few weeks. A case in point: one kg of tomato which used to cost ₹12 in the third week of March has shot up to ₹35-40 a kg since April 15.
Not just tomatoes, the prices of green or red chillies, cauliflower, capsicum and other vegetables have gone up too. And the prices are likely to increase further. Of all the vegetables sold at Rythu Bazaar, the highest price is of French beans’, which is ₹85 per kg.
When asked when were the prices low, a vendor waiting for customers scoffed, “Prices were low in winter, the season when we faced losses and even threw away some vegetables as no one bought them,”. She pointed at a farmer, Malugari Narasimha Reddy, who doubles up as a vendor at the Rythu Bazaar, suggesting that he has a fair idea on the reasons that lead to price rise.
“This is the trend every summer. Owing to water scarcity, our crop yield falls and thus the price rise. When we cultivate a crop in winters, lets say green chilli, the yield is only 70% and the remaining 30% goes waste. And in summers, the yield is 30% and the rest 70% goes waste,” said Mr. Narasimha Reddy, who was selling chillies grown at his farm in Nawabpet mandal in Vikarabad.
The chillies that used to cost around ₹16 per kg in winters, costs ₹50-65 per kg in April.
Mr. Narasimha Reddy, a seasoned farmer who has been selling his produce at the Rythu Bazaar since the past 19 years, and others said they get low price for their produce for eight months in a year, which increases only for three months in summers.
While attending to one of his regular customers, another farmer-cum-vendor Kamalakar Reddy said one kg of tomato costs ₹40 per kg. But he sells it at ₹35, ₹5 less than the price listed on Rythu Bazaar charts.
Transport cost
“The prices got so low in the last winter that we sold tomato at ₹5 per kg,” said Mr. Kamalakar, who sells vegetables grown at Chancharpet in Vikarabad district. He said besides paying ₹30 per crate to transport it from his village to the Rythu Bazaar, he has to pay ₹300 per worker if the load is more.
Estate officer at Model Rythu Bazaar at Erragadda, P. Ramesh, said going by past experiences where farmers incurred losses by growing some vegetables as many farmers cultivated the same crop, they have avoided repeating the mistake this time. “This year, a few have cultivated onion. But we get it from other places too and therefore, their price has not increased,” said Mr. Ramesh said.