Blame the Corona :Steep Hike in Vegetable Prices but Farmer’snot getting a Fair Price

Maharashtra has been the worst hit with positive cases of COVID -19. The Corona wave sweeping globally and nationally the consumers are in to see their vegetable bills rise in the past ten days. We are already seeing a 40 % increase in bills in the last week.

On Sunday,a farmer friend calling from Hadapsar, Pune reports that the prices have nearly doubled but the price at the farmer gate is been negligible. For Cabbage and Cauliflower the maximum price he got was 5 Rs/Kg when they are sold at 50 Rs, Tomato@22 Rs/Kg when sold at 100Rs, Brinjal@Rs20 when sold at 80 Rs, Chillies@60 Kg when sold at Rs 200, Methi @12/Kg when sold at 40. Cucumber being used in salads, they are not of any interest these days and not even accepted by the vendors. Fruits like Watermelon are sold at Pune and Hadapsar market @75 Rs /kg but the farmer gets a mere 10 Rs/kg.

 I am sure many of us realize how valuable Our Farmer and Food is at this Crisis. How local Food chains are important, How Sustainable each village should be, How important is to be a circular Economy. How great is to eat safe food and Value to the Farmer who never expects but atleast the right price of his products. It seems so difficult for him to make both ends meet but that doesn’t fail him.

It was also reported that the Kirana stores in the rural city side have hiked the prices for grocery items citing many reasons. The ParleG biscuit which was being sold @5 Rs have been hiked to 10 and 5 litre Edible oil cans sold at 1500 have been hiked to 1700. This is something that is unprecedented and should not be done.When you are too sure the consumers are in demand, looting should never be allowed. I hope the government looks into the fact that the Kirana Stores are kept in double check whether they are selling at higher prices. We enquired with trader friends and according to them d unless the supply chain is stabilized the prices will tend to remain volatile and unstable.

Are we in for a high price rise? I wonder how the rise in prices will affect the consumers at all levels. We hope the dust settles soon and we come back to living normal.