Telangana: Vegetable prices soar under impact of rains

Hyderabad: Vegetable crisis is looming large in Telangana. This could spoil the festivities of Dasara. The unusual rains have devastated horticulture in the entire Telangana. Prediction of more rain until Monday has jacked up the prices of vegetables.

Telangana used to export tomato, brinjal, cabbage and cucumber to neighbouring States. But now there is a 50 per cent shortfall as the standing crops were devastated in the recent rains. From being an exporter of vegetables to importing has made the prices of veggies go up twice the price.

Telangana has started importing leafy vegetables, bhendi, green chilli, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, beans and capsicum from other states.

It is estimated that the prices of all vegetables are likely to double in the coming weeks and the shortage of availability of onion and potato will be intense since the crop damages is high in the rain-hit Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The supply of leafy vegetables, onion and potatoes will be down by about 50 per cent this season.

As a result, the prices of these essentials have started rising in Hyderabad.

State Horticulture department officials said that tomato crop in Rangareddy, Adilabad, Nizamabad and Sadasivapet were completely damaged in about 10,000 acres. Brinjal, which is cultivated in Shameerpet, Chevella, Ranagreddy and Zaheerabad was also damaged. Other vegetables - cabbage, carrot and cauliflower which are being produced surplus in the State will become scarce due to flooding of crop fields.

Beans brought from Karnataka were sold in Hyderabad markets at Rs 90 per kg and the price is expected to go up to Rs 150 per kg. Other vegetables whose prices have started rising are snake gourd, bitter gourd and ridge gourd.

State Horticulture officials said that the total sown area of the vegetables has been 92,177 acres in the current season. Due to damages, the State will now have to rely on import of vegetables from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat to meet the demand.

In Hyderabad, officials said that procurement of vegetables to meet the demand in the State will be a daunting task to the government until fresh crop comes into the market. This means that it would take at least three months to stabilize the vegetable prices. "A mechanism to encourage farmers to grow vegetables before the rabi season beginning from December is being worked out," said an official.