Vegetable prices soar as rain hits supply in Chandigarh

Inclement weather over the last month has seen vegetable prices surge at the apni mandi, Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) officials said on Tuesday, adding that the prices are further expected to rise owing to sudden dip in temperature and heavy rainfall in the region.

Speaking about the same, one of the local mandi supervisors posted with PMB, Harpreet Singh said, “Due to untimely rainfall, the production of green leafy like spinach, coriander, fenugreek, has stopped and its supply has been reduced. Besides, the climbing vegetables like bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cucumber, also got affected. The prices of these vegetables have increased significantly and are further expected to rise in the coming days.”

“Besides these, the vegetables which are grown underground, also get destroyed due to incessant rains,” he added.

While some rain is required for the cultivation, heavy rain adversely affects most vegetables — especially tomatoes.

Among others, the prices of capsicum have increased significantly, up from ₹40 per kg to ₹60 per kg, in a month. Radish prices have also increased from ₹10 to ₹40 per kg whereas the prices of spinach have increased from ₹20 to ₹30 per kg. Cauliflower also became dearer from ₹12 to ₹20 and broccoli from ₹40 to ₹60 per kg.

Besides, the prices of peas also saw a surge from ₹40 to ₹90 per kg. The people can buy ladyfingers at a cost of ₹120 per kg.

For the staple vegetables, the price witnessed only little change. The prices of potatoes went up marginally from ₹12 to ₹14 per kg whereas onions and tomatoes remained unchanged at ₹25 per kg and ₹30 per kg respectively.

Notably, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted warmer temperature for the coming days and the supply of leafy vegetables is likely to get hit. {rices of the staple vegetables are not expected to change.