Cyclone hits veg demand and supply at  Koyambedu

CHENNAI:  The quantity of vegetables at Koyambedu wholesale market halved after only 250 lorries reached the market on Saturday early morning. The market usually receives over 500 lorries of vegetables daily.

Despite low supply, however, prices of various vegetables decreased owing to reduced demand. “As the movement of people was less even on Friday, sales decreased on Friday and the stock piled up. As the cyclone crossed the coast at around 3am, which is when the market usually starts to function, retail vegetable sellers from places like Chengalpattu and other areas refrained from coming to the market,” said VR Soundararajan, president of Koyambedu potato wholesale merchants association.

 Several lorries were left unloaded owing to decreased demand, noted Soundararajan. He said, “Even the footfall of hoteliers who usually purchase from the market decreased by more than 50%.”

The price of cabbage went down from Rs 15 a kg to Rs 8 a kg, tomatoes from Rs 20 a kg to Rs 12 or Rs 15 a kg, broad beans from Rs 40 a kg to Rs 25 a kg, small onions from around Rs 60 a kg to around Rs 40 a kg, brinjal from Rs 20 or Rs 25 a kg to Rs 8 or Rs 10 a kg, cauliflower from Rs 20 a kg to Rs 10 a kg, and radish from Rs 15 a kg to Rs 8 or Rs 10 a kg, among others. 

Traders at the market said they hoped the business to return to normalcy on Sunday, when the rain is expected to reduce.