As temperature soars, so do vegetable rates

PANAJI: Prices of most vegetables in the Panaji municipal market have risen. Potatoes and tomatoes are selling at Rs 30 and Rs 40 per kg, respectively, at a rate Rs 10 higher than before. The sharp increase has led to a decrease in sales for vendors.
“We have been selling tomatoes and potatoes at reasonable rates, but we cannot help but increase the prices to keep with the trend. The demand for vegetables has therefore gone down and customers have not been enthusiastic about their purchase,” one vendor Salman Kudus said.

“Our sales have definitely decreased as a result and we do not see as many customers as we earlier did,” another vendor K F Naik said.
They said that the dayto-day supply of vegetables from neighbouring states has not drastically altered, but the demand certainly has, which means the perishable items remain on their shelves.
Despite their desire to make a bountiful purchase, the fluctuating prices have taken a toll on the pockets of consumers, with the lower and middle-class consumers being the most affected.
“Even though the increasing prices do not affect our ability to buy the vegetables, but our monthly expenditure does increase, and we end up buying smaller quantities of vegetables,” consumer Sarla Katariya said.
Basic kitchen ingredients like chillies are being sold at Rs 60 per kg against Rs 40 a few weeks ago, while onions are being sold at Rs 20 per kg as opposed to Rs 16 earlier.
“There is nothing we can do besides cutting out on the costlier vegetables. The government should do something to standardise rates so that people can afford nutritious vegetables,” another consumer said.