Vegetable prices triple as farmers grapple with water scarcity

Although the state has received a few spells scattered across a few districts last week, vegetable sellers claim that it has had almost no effect on vegetable farming.

Koyembedu market receives most of its vegetables from Villupuram, Tiruvanamalai, Vellore, Tirutani, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts. These areas have either received scanty or no rainfall in the past two months. The farmers were unable to provide proper irrigation to their lands, leading to poor yield of vegetables automatically reflecting in a steep rise in its prices.

The president of Wholesale Potato Traders Association in Koyambedu, V R Soundarajan, said, “The supply of vegetables has dwindled, resulting in increase in rates of almost 40 per cent of the vegetables.” He also said that public may have to bear with this price rise for at least two more months until, hopefully, the situation gets better after a good monsoon.

Soundarajan added that the state did not receive sufficient rainfall last year and that resulted in the price of the vegetables fluctuating throughout the year. “The business of three lakh small vegetable sellers have been hit because of this price rise as lower quantity of vegetables means lower profit margin,” he said.

P Ganesh, a vegetable seller in Koyembedu, said, “Business has been dull for a long time. Lack of rainfall was a major cause for concern to us and now online shopping for vegetables have added to our troubles.”