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Supplies suspended: Vegetable prices shoot up

Published: September 3, 2011

 

Prices of almost all vegetables have doubled following suspension in supplies from the interior Sindh after heavy rains caused damage to various crops.

Retailers are demanding Rs60-80 per kg for tomato as compared to Rs30-40 in Ramazan, while onion price was tagged at Rs40 a kg compared to Rs25-30 earlier.

However, the price of potato remained pegged at Rs30 per kg owing to its supply from cold storages as well as from Punjab.

Cucumber emerged as the most sought-after item after rains devastation in the interior as traders demanded Rs120-160 per kg from consumers compared to Rs30-50 depending on the quality and area.

Lemon is now selling at Rs200 per kg as compared to Rs120 per kg, while ladyfinger is available at Rs60-70 per kg as compared to Rs40-50 per kg.

Vegetable dealers are asking Rs40 per kg for lokki as compared to Rs20-30 while turrai sells at Rs40-60 per kg as against Rs30-35.

Small bunches of podina and coriander (dhania) are available at Rs10 and Rs15-20 as against Rs5-6 and Rs10, earlier.

Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Markets president Haji Shahjehan said arrival of trucks from the interior carrying vegetables had dropped to 100-150 trucks a day from 400-450 in Ramazan.

He feared that disruption in supplies of onion from Balochistan, where rains had also started. In Sindh the onion crop due to arrive this month has destroyed by heavy rains. He added that people are currently consuming onion of Balochistan but in case its supply is stopped after rains then the price will further go up.

Shahjehan said onion rates in Subzi Mandi had swelled to Rs1,400-1,500 per 40 kg from Rs800 in Ramazan.

Tomato is also arriving from Balochistan and its wholesale rate is now quoted at Rs40-50 per kg as compared to Rs20 per kg.

He said the wholesale price of almost all green vegetables (perishable) had risen by 100 per cent.

All Pakistan Fruit Vegetable Exporters Importers and Merchants Association former chairman Waheed Ahmed claimed that rains and floods had destroyed 80 per cent of onion crop in Sindh, which produces around one million tons of onion every year.

He said the government should provide free seeds to growers for onion sowing in order to avert any big jump in price. He added that the Balochistan crop, which is feeding the entire country, has already concluded and growers may face problems as rains had also started there.

Only 100 tons of onion from Balochistan is being exported a week but exports this year may hit the bottom after 80 per cent crop loss in Sindh.

Pakistan had exported 250,000 tons of onion in 2010-11. He said reports suggest that rains had also damaged the banana orchards.

He recalled that last year`s floods had not hit the onion crop but this year`s late monsoon rains had damaged the ripening crop.