Price of vegetables and fruits skyrocketing; govt yet to intervene

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With prices of tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits soaring high, the kitchen budget of the people has gone awry. Only two vehicles of the Horticorp are functioning in the district. These vehicles don't even have enough vegetables.

In the past years, when the prices rose, the government directly brought vegetables from the neighboring states at a reduced price. No such intervention was made this year. The price of tomatoes has increased to 180. The price of lemon which went down to Rs 40 yesterday became Rs 54. Beans are priced at Rs.120 and carrots at Rs.80 each. Among the fruits, the price of bananas is soaring day by day.

The authorities are claiming that the price of tomatoes has gone up all over the country. However, middlemen are taking advantage of this and are increasing the price of other items as well. This can only be solved if the government directly intervenes in the market.

The situation is so bad that a family of five has to spend at least one hundred rupees on vegetables every day. Although the price of green chilies has come down, the prices of most items, including beans and carrots, have not decreased. The price of ginger has been above 200 for three months.

Vegetable Price in Public Market, Horticorp (in brackets)

Ginger – 240 (199)
Tomato- 180 (140)
Carrot- 80 (69)
Chilli- 80 (75)
Big Chilli: 95 (85)
Drum stick – 50 (42)
Brinjal- 40 (36)
Snake gourd- 42(38)
Beans- 120 (105)

Fruits
Plantain Banana- 75 (63)
Rasakadali Banana- 80 (70)
Poovan Banana- 62 (55)
Red Banana- 60 (56)
Palayankodan Banana- 40 (34)
Robysta Banana- 45 (38)