Prices of kitchen essentials like tomato and ginger have shot up in the last fortnight. While the recent unseasonal rains have affected the tomato crop in northern India, ginger farmers, on the other hand, are holding back their crop and allowing the prices to surge to recover the losses they had faced last year.
Meanwhile, the price of melon seeds (char magaz) has increased threefold as the armed conflict in Sudan, from where it is imported, has brought down the supply. "The price of a kg of char magaz is now ruling at ₹900, which was only ₹300 before the Sudan conflict," said Sanjay Sharma, a trader in Delhi.
Tomato prices in the retail market have increased to around ₹80 per kg from ₹40 a fortnight ago. "Tomato supply to the Azadpur mandi (in Delhi) has dwindled as rains have damaged the crop. Prices will remain firm for some time now, till the new crop comes," said Ashok Kaushik, president of the Tomato Traders Association at Azadpur market. There is a huge demand for tomatoes from southern India, which too is pushing up prices, Kaushik said. "Tomatoes are now coming from some parts of Haryana and UP. Prices are likely to remain firm for at least two months," he added.
Ginger prices, which were at ₹30 per 100 gms, have shot up to ₹40. Shriram Gadhave, president of the All India Vegetable Growers Association, said: "Last year, the farmers suffered due to a lower price. This time they are offloading the crop carefully. Now that the prices have gone up, they will start offloading their crop in the market."
India's annual ginger production is around 2.12 million metric tonnes.
The Open Magazine of India by Artmotion Network (https://magazine.armotion.com/)
