For Rashmi Ranjan and her husband, residents of Sector 14, skyrocketing prices of vegetables have been eating into their monthly budget. “Our fortnightly spending on vegetables used to be ₹1,500. It has now increased to ₹2,000-2,300, which comes to a monthly increase of around ₹1,600 per month. We are trying our best to control expenses. Until last month, we avoided onions from our daily menu to control expenditure,” said Ranjan, who stopped purchasing onions after it crossed the ₹70/kg-mark. Till December, onions were being sold at ₹90-120/kg in the National Capital Region (NCR).
A combination of factors, including poor management of the demand and supply of vegetables, absence of real-time data on production and distribution, and damage due to unseasonal rainfall, have together contributed to the hike in vegetable prices
Price discrepancy in wholesale market
The sabzi mandi (vegetable market) at Khandsa is operated by both wholesalers and retailers. Buyers here are generally local vegetable sellers, residents and small-time hotel or dhaba owners. Local vendors, who purchase items directly from wholesalers, sell it in residential societies and small markets in different areas.
Interestingly, during a visit by an HT reporter, it was found that retailers operating within the same market were selling vegetables at a price much higher than the wholesalers, who sit barely 50 steps away. “In December, prices of onion, potatoes, tomatoes, and other vegetables escalated. They have now come down. Despite that, retailers are selling them at a higher price within the same market,” said Narinder, a wholesaler.
Explaining the reason behind the discrepancy in prices of vegetables within the same market, he said that wholesalers sell vegetables in bulk—not less than 25kg at a time. “Only big retailers or hotel owners can afford to buy in such quantities, while a consumer’s purchase is restricted to a kilogram or two, at best. Therefore, consumers are left with no option but to buy from retailers, who are selling their produce at almost double the price within the same market,” Narinder said.
Effect on dhaba owners and local supermarkets
The increasing prices of vegetables have affected the small dhaba owners of the city. Owner of one of the popular dhabas said that in the last three months, the input cost has increased exponentially due to vegetable price rise. “Even though we buy vegetables in bulk from Delhi and Gurugram markets, the input cost has increased drastically, affecting the overall profit margin. We cannot increase the rate per plate considering the high price of potatoes, onions, tomatoes or garlic,” said Rao Lal Singh, owner of Old Rao Hotel.
The prices spike further in supermarkets of upscale areas. Tomatoes are being sold at ₹70/kg, cauliflower at ₹60/kg, and almost all vegetables are more expensive by ₹20-₹25/kg.
Authorities react
The Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) keeps a check on the wholesale prices by keeping a stock of food items. “Since Gurugram market is not big as Delhi or Madhya Pradesh mandi, there is no possibility of stocking more. Moreover, the retail prices cannot be controlled by us,” said Raj Kumar Beniwal, chief marketing enforcement officer, HSAMB.
“There is also an absence of real-time data in our country related to the production of fruits and vegetable varieties grown in different states, districts, pockets and clusters during different seasons of the year. The data not only helps in maintaining regular supply, but also monitoring and regular check on the market fluctuations. Through the data, we can timely predict the unexpected price rise of fruits and vegetables. However, this is not possible in our country due to the lack of data,” said Beniwal.
There are other immediate factors responsible for the price rise as well. “In the case of onions, the price surge has been due to crop damage by heavy rains in onion-producing states, such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. For other vegetables, there has been no management in controlling demand and supply. Farmers are not getting weather advisory in advance at the time of sowing. It results in an overall loss in production, disrupting the entire demand and supply cycle,” said a senior HSAMB official on the condition of anonymity.
Residents cry foul
Residents believe that the government has failed in regulating retail price of vegetables. Sonia Vaid, a resident of Sector 40 said, “In the upscale colonies of Gurugram, prices are already high. The government should not only regulate prices in sabzi mandi, but also in retail stores. Neither the end consumers nor farmers are getting benefitted by the hike in prices. It is only the middlemen who are profiting.”
Measures taken
In September 2019, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) released 50 metric tonnes (MT) onions through Public Distribution System (PDS) in the district to make up for the shortage of onions. One kilogram was sold at ₹31 in PDS shops to the BPL cardholders.
Further, to deal with the problem at the policy level, officials say they are trying to promote a farmers’ and producers’ organisation (FPO) as a part of the market strategy. It would reduce the gap between farmers and government agencies, helping to address issues pertaining to demand and supply.
