Traders at Koyambedu lose profits as veg rates continue to drop

CHENNAI: The prices of vegetables, especially tomatoes in Koyambedu wholesale market, are facing a continuous dip.

The continuous supply of vegetables from neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, directly affects prices and livelihood of farmers and traders of Tamil Nadu.

For the past 3 months, vegetable prices have declined two fold. On Thursday, tomatoes were sold for Rs 8 per kg in Koyambedu market. Likewise, the prices of onion, carrot, brinjal, okra and drumsticks have also dropped.

“Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka provide 95% of vegetable supply to the Koyambedu market,” pointed out M Thiyagarajan, president of Koyambedu vegetable, fruit and flower traders’ association. “Now these states have received high rainfall recently, which increased production. This leads to a rise in supply to the market, which affects prices and our daily earnings.”

A few decades back, during summer, the vegetable supply would drop but nowadays the production has increased irrespective of the season, due to hybrid varieties. “The concept of seasonal vegetables and fruit has decimated completely by the introduction of hybrid technology. For instance, mangoes and water melons are sold even after the season is over,” pointed out Thiyagarajan. “This affects the farmers, as they can’t meet the expected return which they have invested.”

Farmers of Tamil Nadu are the only group which gets adversely affected such market trends every season, rued PR Pandian, president, Co-ordination Committee of All Farmers Association.

“The State government should safeguard the farming sector by announcing a minimum selling price for all vegetables,” he stated.