Prices of onions set to dip
Hyderabad , Oct 9 :
Every natural calamity has its own impact on the daily life of a common man. Vegetable prices in the capital city and towns in the state s have shot up considerably following heavy floods in several parts of Andhra Pradesh. No doubt the floods have affected rail and road routes connecting Hyderabad and the other towns thus drastically cutting the vegetable supplies. Supply of vegetables including Onions, cabbage, cauliflower and tomatoes from the rural areas has been cut off, sending the prices soaring. As a result, the prices of vegetables have spiralled in the last couple of days, the dealers said. But the good news on Friday is that the vegetable prices, in particular that of , is finally set to dip in the next couple of days. The vendors of the housewives should really thank the heavens for the stocks of Onions started arriving from Kurnool, almost after a week.
Onion prices in the state had gone up considerably after Kurnool one of the primary suppliers of Onion in the state, was flooded. With the stocks arriving fresh in the last couple of days there is a reasonable fall in the prices of Onion on Friday. Sources close to the marketing officials say that 5,400 quintals of Onions arrived in Hyderabad from Kurnool and is now made available at the Rythu Bazaars for Rs 12 per kg. Onions were being sold for Rs 20 at these bazaars until two days ago. “After Kurnool got flooded, we were buying Onions from Nasik, Nagpur, Pune and other places outside the state. The prices remained high because of this, as we were paying more money towards transportation,” said S M Hashmi, assistant director of marketing, Ranga Reddy district. With supplies from Kurnool resuming, he said, the prices are likely to dip hereafter.
Along with Onions, even tomatoes saw a fall in price on Friday, with the vegetable that was being sold for Rs 20 at local markets earlier in the week, being available for Rs 14. Even retail outlets dropped their rate from Rs 30 to Rs 23. Some places also saw vendors selling it for Rs 18. “This is because roads between Hyderabad and Bangalore (the state gets a good chuck of its supply from there) have opened now and there is sufficient stock,” explained the market officials , dispelling all fears about the vegetable not being available in the market for a long time. Rythu Bazaars that had also witnessed a dip in the number of farmers setting shops at the markets, as an aftermath of the floods, saw more people report on duty on Thursday. Officials said that the numbers would gradually improve over the next few days.