Seasonal fruit prices increased as mercury soar in Chennai

CHENNAI: As temperature begins to soar in the city, so have the fruit prices. The Koyambedu wholesale market started to receive seasonal fruits from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and due to surge in the demand among the customers, the rate witnessed an increase by 10 percent. However, the prices are expected to further increase when the temperature level continues to soar.

"As many as 150 vehicles of fruits arrived at the market for the last few weeks. Since the mercury level surged from February unlike the previous years, the demand for fruits among the customers has also increased recently. It leads to a marginal hike. As the temperature level is expected to increase further the prices will also surge accordingly based on the demand," said R Ramesh, a wholesale fruit trader at Koyambedu wholesale market.

From next month, the wholesale market will receive an additional 50 vehicles of mangoes. Almost after two years, the traders in the fruit market witnessed a brisk sale due to sunny days from last month. The vendors predicted that the prices might increase by 20 to 30 percent in the coming days.

At present, grapes sold for Rs 35 to Rs 50 per kg, watermelons Rs 20-22 per kg, apple Rs 150 to Rs 250 per kg, pomegranate Rs 120 to Rs 200 per kg, sweet lime Rs 45 to Rs 60 per kg and orange Rs 20 to Rs 45 per kg. Even the retailers in the city saw a brisk sale in recent days. The retail vendors sell Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg extra compared to the wholesale rates.

"In the last two years, there were rainy days between March and May which are the peak summer seasons. There was no proper sale of fruits and led to tonnes of commodities wasted. However, this year we saw a good sale among the customers and the price is expected to increase further till the summer ends," said Y Thyagarajan, a retailer at Washermenpet.