Wholesale prices in Maharashtra touch Rs 2,400 a quintal
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The soaring onion prices has in the past played a part in bringing down one government, and with the country within sniffing distance of another Lok Sabha election, prices of onions are literally hitting the roof.
Onions are almost out of the reach of the common man with prices touching Rs 35 per kg already. According to officials onion prices will go up and could even touch Rs 50-60, with reports saying that the average onion prices at the wholesale market in Lasalgaon, Maharashtra, rose to Rs 2,400 a quintal last week, a 50 per cent hike in a month.
Even the subsidized Horticulture department kiosks are selling onion at Rs 31. The other commodity which is getting dearer by the day is the capsicum, which is being sold for Rs 50 in Panjim, while in Margao it has touched Rs 60.
Potatoes are being sold at around Rs 24-25, French beans at Rs 50, carrots at Rs 60, tomatoes at Rs 40 and chilies at Rs 40. But at the horticulture kiosks, potatoes are sold at Rs 16 to 18. Cucumber is available at Rs 30, while the chitkyo mitkyo is Rs 40.
“Prices of onions are gone up all over India,” says Orlando Rodrigues of the Horticulture department. “Our shops are selling them at Rs 31. But it might rise further, even to Rs 40 or 50.”
However, a tour of the markets, including the Horticulture department outlets, in Panjim and its suburbs as well as Margao has shown that there is not much difference in the rates of the other vegetable prices.
Meanwhile, heavy rains with stable yield have kept the prices of the vegetables in check. Prices of various vegetables on Thursday evening in Belgaum were as follows: Cauliflower Rs 200 for one and half doxen. Other vegetables for every 10 kilos the prices were: tomato – Rs. 220- 240, Ridge gourd Rs 150 – 180, Beans Rs 100-150, Brinjal Rs 200 t0 Rs 220, Capsicum : Rs 250, Lady’s Finger – Rs 200- 220, Bottle Gourd Rs. 100 per dozen, Methi – Rs. 200 per 100 bundles, Coriander Rs. 250 – 200 per 100 bundles.
