Vegetable Prices In Odisha Touch North, Burn A Hole In Common Man’s Pocket

Bhubaneswar: The soaring prices of vegetables in Odisha in the past week have upset family budgets. The prices of common vegetables like tomato, potato and onion have almost doubled in the last week and are being sold at around Rs 100 per kg in the state capital and in other cities.

Vegetables with a short-self life are specifically affected. A wholesaler attributed the surge in prices to unseasonal rains and inclement weather.

Odisha mostly depends on imports from states like Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka for vegetables. There has been a scant supply of vegetables from these states in the recent past, added another seller.

Another contributing factor is the usual suspects – the middlemen who are deliberately doubling the price of vegetables. They purchase most of the green vegetables at Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg from the farmers and sell them at around Rs 100 per kg.

Lack of infrastructure for storage and poor supply chain management are also the reasons for the sudden spike in vegetable prices. The sellers are hopeful that the grim situation will improve within a fortnight with new production hitting the market.