PUNE/KOLHAPUR/NASHIK: The flood-like situation in Kolhapur and parts of western Maharashtra has affected supply of milk and vegetables to Pune and Mumbai. At retail markets in Pune on Friday, prices of leafy greens, vegetables and fruits were up 10-20%.
In Pune, authorities at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) said lower inflow of produce has hit supplies to the retail market. “We expect the prices to remain high for at least three days,” an official said.
On Friday, the Market Yard received only 18,989 tonnes of vegetables and fruits, about 18% less than Thursday’s intake of 22,949 tonnes. “Farmers from many places in the district could not bring their produc,”ePune APMC secretary Madhukant Garad said.
Dutta Kalamkar, head of the market’s vegetables section, said Friday’s open auction saw higher prices than usual.
Traders from Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, who purchase 20-25 tempos of vegetables daily from the Gultekdi market, were unable to as many roads leading to Pune are shut.
Pune’s milk collection was largely unaffected. “Our average daily collection of 2.5 lakh litres came down to 2.3 lakh litres on Friday,” Vishnu Hinge, chairman of Katraj dairy, said.
Kolhapur’s Gokul dairy said on Thursday that it won’t supply milk to Mumbai and Pune for two days as milk collection from in the district’s rural areas was hit. “ We would be able to supply only to Kolhapur district until the situation becomes normal,” Gokul dairy chairman Vishwas Narayan Patil said. For now, milk is being arranged from Gujarat to meet Mumbai’s needs.
Sagar Shambhushete, a farmer from Shirol tehsil, said they fear a complete loss of harvest — around 400 tonnes of vegetables are harvested here per day — if the rain continues for the next 48 hours.
APMC Nashik unaffected
Nashik APMC secretary Arun Kale said supply from Nashik to Mumbai and Gujarat was largely normal. Onion supply to the Lasalgaon market dropped mainly due to fall in prices over the week. Farmers said the rainfall will boost farming activity, which had stalled for a few weeks over poor rainfall. The district is getting adequate milk from Ahmednagar and Jalgaon, officials said.
