KOLKATA: Resumption of suburban train services have had a cooling effect on the prices of vegetables and other perishable commodities in the wholesale markets across the city.
It will take a week more for prices to come down in retail markets, thanks to Kali Puja, Diwali and Bhai Phonta. Though Sunday is a lean day for supply of perishable items, a huge number of vendors brought vegetables in the vendors’ compartments to the city.
With fuel prices breaching the century mark, road transportation has become prohibitively costly making retail prices at city markets very high despite good production of vegetables. Earlier this month some vegetables breached the Rs 200-mark with most vegetable prices going beyond Rs70-80.
The transportation cost difference between road transport and train is huge. “Booking costs of two tonnes of vegetables from Krishnagore to Kolkata is Rs 1,600, but it now costs Rs 12,000 to carry it by road. The price of one kg of vegetables gets costlier compared to those being carried by trains,” said Kamal Dey, president, Vendors’ Association. Moreover, the city is so well connected with our agricultural growth centres, he added.
However, Dey, a member of the state appointed market task force, said, “The prices will start falling from next Monday as the markets will be flooded with winter vegetables. Okra and parwal prices will start rising due to dwindling stocks.”
Wholesale prices of vegetables have already started reducing on Sunday. Potato wholesale price fell from Rs850 to Rs800 for a 50-kg bag. Tomato wholesale price plunged to Rs35 a kg and capsicum and beans which had scored double centuries dropped below Rs100 a kg in the wholesale market. However, because of three back-to-back festivities, retail prices are unlikely to drop as retailers always try to make the most of these festival days, said Alok Das of Barisha Market Committee.
The impact of the mid-October heavy rain left a vast tract of farmland inundated, destroying a huge amount of standing crop. However, some districts like Nadia were spared from the impact of this rain. In fact, some districts in North and South 24 Parganas which were badly hit by cyclone Yaas and the mid-October rain have now yielded a bumper crop, said a agriculture marketing department source.
From Monday, the actual supply line, the trains, will open up fully. “Farmers are very happy. They were forced to make distress-sale of their produce in the rural markets because of the prohibitive road transport costs. They now hope to fetch good prices by selling them in the city markets,” said Arijit Sinha Roy, convenor, Bengal Vegetable Growers’ Association.
