The Rot In Vegetable Prices

A long running rot in India’s agricultural scene is now rearing its ugly head. For long government panels and sanctioned committees had predicted that India would have a problem in maintaining its ability to provide a consistent supply of vegetables and fruits to a nation of a billion but these indications have been consistently brushed under the carpet by whichever political party was or is in power. The result has been an environment where vegetable prices have been on the rise for quite some time. Hit by the increasing rate of inflation, they have now sky rocketed.

The government continues to blame inflation for the continuous rise in vegetable prices. There is a need to understand that inflation has only been an additive to this situation but not the cause. The cause has been years in the making. Agricultural land has been diminishing at a rapid pace thus leading to a shortfall in land that can be cultivated.

The result has been the lack of a valuable resource to meet the demand for vegetables. A demand that continues to increase day by day. There is also the question of low quality seeds that on being planted lead to crops that are extremely vulnerable to pests and parasites rendering the entire crop useless.

Worse than all of this has been the government’s inability to match demand with supply. Plucked vegetables are stored for weeks on end in storage houses where there is another possibility that they will be infected by worms. This makes sure that vegetables don’t reach shops leaving their prices to go up rapidly.

Similar commodities like food crops too have seen an increase in price but not at the rate that vegetables have shot up. The reason for this has been India balancing its supply and demand needs by importing the deficits.

There are a few things the consumer can do to avoid paying too much for their vegetables:-

a)      Make sure that you buy your vegetables from a government wholesaler: Often called a ‘Fair Price Shop’, almost every major city in India has one. They’re often missed because they’re very small and are not advertised but they’re set up solely to sell vegetables at a wholesale rate. Since the operation is run by the respective state governments, the vegetables are bought from the farmer and sold to you the consumer directly with no middlemen, at a cheaper rate.

b)      Do not buy large quantities of vegetables: Vegetables are economic commodities like any other commercial item. They are subject to change in demand and supply hence their prices also fluctuate. If you buy more at time when their price is high, you will miss out on the fall in price which in this case happens on a day to week basis.

c)       Try to buy vegetables and fruits from border areas especially if you live there: Most people buy their vegetables from the local retailer or the big branded retailer. You must know that there are local shops especially on the border of your city which sell vegetables cheaper.These shops are located in lowly populated areas where the demand is less; hence the price is also less. Since they’re at the fringes of the city, there are times they are exempt from paying taxes on vegetables and thus they pass on the same benefit to you by selling at a lower price.