Eat less veggies; Price you pay to survive

CHENNAI: Mother Nature’s bounty comes in myriad forms, and the most edible are the variety of vegetables that are part of the Indian staple diet. However, a recent survey has revealed that consumption of vegetables has reduced by 29% in Indian households following a surge in prices. This is a significant finding considering that vegetables make a substantial portion of the middle-class monthly budget.

Closer home, even before the northeast monsoon began in Tamil Nadu, prices of vegetables had surged in Chennai.

Staple commodities like tomatoes, onions, and potatoes cost a bomb due to disruption in the supply from across the country during the second crop cultivation.

This affected consumption of many essential veggies and green vegetables in Indian households to 29% in the last few months.

However, it has been difficult to eliminate tomatoes and onions from the diet, revealed a survey by LocalCircles.

Climate change

Usually, vegetable prices surge during the northeast monsoon (November and December) due to crop damage that hits supply to the city. Nowadays, climate change causes intense spells even during non-seasonal months, which result in adequate production supply.

This year, prices of tomatoes and onions continued to spike since January because of the drastic change in weather patterns, especially in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where excess heat and rainfall throughout the year interrupted supply to the city.

Tomatoes were sold for Rs 80-90/kg at Koyambedu wholesale market. In retail outlets, a kilo of tomato costs Rs 120. Prices spiked for other vegetables too such as onions, potatoes, beans, broad beans and carrots.

After the second crop cultivation ended, production reduced drastically in the neighbouring states unlike the previous years. For the last few weeks, the market has been receiving less than 500 truckloads of vegetables every day, which results in a further surge in prices.

According to the survey, one in two Indian households are now paying over Rs 75/kg for tomatoes, and onions for Rs 50/kg. A few have started to purchase third-grade quality vegetables due to the price hike. Annual retail inflation, based on the All-India Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 5.49% in September because of higher food prices.

“Earlier, vegetable prices used to be below Rs 50/kg, so we could stock-up for at least two weeks. But for the last two years, prices have continued to surge drastically, making it difficult for us to stay within the budget,” lamented A Sreemathy, a homemaker. “Last year, tomatoes were sold at Rs 100/kg in December, and now it’s Rs 120/kg in October itself. Vendors say that prices may increase more in the next two months. Our monthly budget for essential commodities has increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 despite reducing consumption.”

The production in the third crop cultivation is lesser than the first two in the country. Additionally, sudden rains damaged crops and affected the production to the city, opined P Sukumaran, treasurer, Koyambedu Wholesale Merchants' Association.

“If the State government had proper storage facilities, waterbodies and agriculture, we wouldn’t be dependent on other states for essential commodities,” he added. “From Tamil Nadu, only 15-20% of vegetables have been supplied during the first crop cultivation. We’re unable to cultivate more due to lack of waterbodies in the State, which is a colossal failure of the State government.”

Following the surge in vegetable prices from January this year, farmers decided to sow more crops to ensure supply was not disrupted during the monsoon. But, due to unseasonal rainfall across the State, that plan was foiled.

Latin American storage facilities

Farmers and traders have been asking the State government to provide storage facilities, similar to those used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Mexico because they have similar climatic conditions like India.

For example, to store onions, vendors there introduced the open ventilator warehousing, which keeps it fresh for six months. If such facilities are introduced in the State, it would keep supply steady, and prices would remain stable.

The Koyambedu wholesale market received more than 500 trucks of vegetables on Saturday (October 19), which brought down the prices marginally by 10%. However, traders anticipated that the downtrend in prices could be expected to continue only for a week, thanks to the monsoon spells that have damaged the crops in Karnataka and AP.

“Prices are likely to surge drastically from November, as crops are already affected due to the recent rainfall. Due to the monsoon season, expect the prices of essential commodities to spike more in the city,” cautioned J Karunanidhi, a vegetable vendor.