Farmers in distress as prices of veggies decline sharply

Vijayawada: A sudden drop in the sales of vegetables in the city during the ongoing Krishna Pushkaralu is resulting in heavy losses to farmers in the district and small-time vendors to some extent. In contrast to the expectations, the sale of vegetables fell below 50 per cent in one week and the prices of some varieties of vegetables came down to below Rs 10.

Farmers, who bring their produce to Rythu Bazars in the city, are abandoning vegetables as there is no demand. Many stalls are also being closed in Rythu Bazars as the consumers are not visiting them. The biggest Rythu Bazar in the city Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar which has a turnover of Rs 25 lakh a day is always busy with at least 12,000 to 15,000 consumers visiting the place daily.

According to estate officer M Ramesh Babu, cosumers’ rush has come down by 50 per cent in the last one week, and the turnover has also declined to about Rs 10 lakh a day.

As the demand declined for the local varieties of vegetables, including cucumber, bottle gourd, ridge gourd and lady fingers, the farmers, who bring their produce to Rythu Bazar, are leaving the vegetables there or selling at very low prices to the local merchants.

The price of cucumber is Rs 8, ridge gourd Rs 10, lady fingers Rs 7 and bottle gourd Rs 4 to Rs 5 at Rythu bazaar. There is not much difference in the prices at Kaleswara Rao market also. The marketing department has also slashed the quantity of supply of vegetable varieties of onions, potatoes and tomatoes to Rythu Bazar in the city.

Ramesh Babu said that there was a huge demand for vegetables before the beginning of Krishna Pushkaralu, and the farmers and merchants expected that the trend would continue during the 12-day event. But, a sharp decline is recorded in the sales.

He also said that because of propaganda that prices would shoot up during the Pushkaralu, the consumers stored vegetables before the beginning of river festival which was one of the reasons for the drop in the sales. Rashid, a merchant at Rythu Bazar, said he was bearing a daily loss about Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 since one week because of no sale.

“I have to pay Rs 10,000 to the owner of the stall for a month, Rs 4,000 as rent to Rythu Bazar in spite of drop in sales. This situation may continue for another week,” he said. Another merchant Dulipala Manasa said the farmers and merchants were suffering as the sales of vegetables dropped to 50 per cent.