The Hindu : Expensive Onam likely as vegetable prices soar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Expensive Onam likely as vegetable prices soar

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI JUNE 20. Kerala can well brace up for an expensive Onam this year with market watchers predicting that vegetable prices are unlikely to move south until past the festive season.

Kochiites will bear the brunt of the price rise with the Ernakulam district accounting for about 36 per cent of the total vegetables imported into Kerala from neighbouring states.

The price of vegetables and fruits, already going through the roof, is likely to move further up in the coming two weeks. Vegetable prices have appreciated 20 to 30 per cent and in a few cases 50 per cent, during the last three weeks.

Green chillies, cowpea (achinga), ginger, drumsticks, beans, cabbage, elephantfoot yam, coriander leaves, amaranths, cauliflower, ashgourd and pumpkin are some of the vegetables that have seen sharp rise in prices over the last two weeks.

At the same time, the price of bananas, tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, big and small onions and raw mangoes have seen only token swings during the past week.

The situation will not improve in the immediate future as severe drought conditions prevail in areas like Coimbatore, Mettupalayam and Ottamchatram from where most of the vegetable imports are sourced.

While there is an opinion that with the onset of the monsoon in some of these vegetable cultivating areas the standing crop may help push down prices, it has, at best been considered optimistic.

Efforts of the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp) to tide over the crisis look like a drop in the ocean considering its limited reach.

The regional office of the Corporation based at Kakkanad, has raised procurement of vegetables like elephantfoot yams, snakegourds, butterfruits, banana flowers (vaazhakkoompu), plantains, bananas, pumpkins and pineapples which are locally produced.

Horticorp runs 10 vegetables and fruits stalls in the district on its own besides supplying to institutions like the Kochi Refineries, HMT, TELK and HIL.

Neighbouring district Kottayam imports just over 7,000 tonnes which is less than one per cent of the State's total imports. Kozhikode too is highly dependent on outside supplies with an import quantum of over 70,000 tonnes. Palakkad district too imports about 77,000 tonnes of vegetables. On the lower side, Kollam district accounts for only 1.9 per cent of the imports at a volume of approximately 15,000 tonnes.

The wholesale markets in the district handles about 250 tonnes of vegetables per day.

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