High prices of vegetables causing pain to consumers

Kolkata: Prices of vegetables, eggs, and poultry meat continue to soar in Kolkata markets, resulting in hardship for the average person. According to greengrocers in various markets in the city, the price of tomatoes has increased significantly to Rs 80-100 per kg from Rs 45-50 a month ago, while Brinjal is now selling for Rs 110-140 per kg, marking a nearly 150 per cent jump since early June.

The prices of different vegetables like bitter gourd, green chilli, and bottle gourd have also gone up by about 50 per cent on average. Prices of eggs and poultry meat have increased by 20-30 percent in nearby markets.

Currently, tomatoes in Bengal are being brought in from different states. A scarcity of tomatoes from Bangalore and Himachal Pradesh has resulted from extreme heat waves and heavy rainfall. Heat waves and heavy rain caused disruptions in logistics, impacting production, according to a source from the West Bengal Vendors Association speaking to PTI.

The Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay stated that the public is experiencing economic hardships due to the decrease in government aid for farmers in fertilisers and transportation subsidies, compounded by worsening weather conditions.

The West Bengal government remains committed to aiding our farmers who are dealing with increasing input expenses. However, the Centre is cutting back on different subsidies. Therefore, both farmers and commoners are experiencing difficulties," stated Chattopadhyay, who is also a Trinamool Congress leader.
He mentioned that the state government operates a retail distribution network called 'Sufal Bangla,' where outlets offer vegetables and food items at affordable prices.

At Sufal Bangla, tomatoes are sold for Rs 65 per kilogram, whereas they are priced at a minimum of Rs 80 in the retail market. Bitter gourd is priced at Rs 72 per kg, while brinjal is priced at Rs 102 per kg, with a discount of 10-20 per cent. Chattopadhyay mentioned our intention to expand the current number of outlets, which is 484.

In the past three weeks, there has been a significant increase in the prices of vegetables, eggs, and poultry. Tomato prices have increased by 100 percentage, while onion prices are gradually rising. Manashi Sanyal, a homemaker, stated that inflation in basic necessities still brings us discomfort in some form or another.

There is a high probability that food inflation increased in June from the 8.7 per cent seen in April and May. Crisil's food plate cost tracker shows a 10 percent increase in the cost of a vegetarian home-cooked meal annually, reaching a six-month high, and non-vegetarian meal costs reaching a seven-month peak.

The RBI has continuously voiced worries about the increasing prices of food. Consumer Price Index-driven retail inflation eased to a 12-month minimum of 4.75 percentage in May.Nevertheless, the food basket's inflation rate dropped slightly to 8.69 per cent from 8.70 per cent in April.

Yet, officials from the consumer affairs ministry anticipate that prices will decrease in the coming days as new crops from southern states are expected to arrive soon and the summer planting of essential vegetables is increasing steadily due to favorable weather conditions. 

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