Veggie, fruit prices 50% crash after Pongal high

COIMBATORE: After the Pongal celebrations, farmers in the district have had little to cheer about. Retail prices of vegetables and fruit have crashed and they say the procurement price doesn’t cover even 50% of the production cost.
A week after the Pongal festival was celebrated, vegetable prices dropped by 50% to 75%. A kilogramme of brinjal that cost Rs 70 to Rs 80 around January 14, is now available for Rs 16 to Rs 22 a kg.Tomatoes, which cost more than Rs 30 a kg before the festival, now costs only Rs 15 to Rs 18. “It is the same with small onions which used to cost Rs 40 per kg, but are now available for Rs 16 a kg,” said G A Wahab, secretary, Saibaba Colony Daily Market Traders’ Union.
However, the main victims are farmers “The procurement price of vegetables and fruit is sometimes less than a third of the retail price,” said P Kandasamy, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Union. “This is because the government has not set a minimum procurement price for vegetables and fruit.”
He said the production cost of one watermelon is Rs 10, but wholesalers buy it for Rs 4.5 from the farmer and it is sold in the retail market at Rs 15. Similarly, tomatoes are procured for Rs 6 to Rs 8 a kg from a farmer when it costs Rs 20 to produce. “Tomatoes are labour-intensive because we need to set up poles to raise the crop. Fertilizers and pesticides are also expensive,” said R Kanagaraj, a tomato farmer in Thondamuthur. Brinjal crops cost farmers Rs 10 per kg but are procured for Rs 5 to Rs 7.
Farmers said this has pushed them further into debt. “We have bank loans, but since we do not get back even the production cost, we are unable to pay them back,” said Kanagaraj, who pledged his wife and daughter’s jewels two years ago to pay part of his debt. “If we default for three years in a row, loans do not come in the fourth year,” he said.
Retailers are not happy either. “We don’t make much of a profit with prices of Rs 10 and Rs 12 for a kg for essential vegetables,” said Wahab.
Consumers, however, are happy. Vegetable markets in Sai Baba Colony, Ganapathy, Kavundampalayam and other parts of the city are busy even in the middle of the day. “There seems to be huge stocks of all vegetables and fruits and prices are a lot more reasonable, so I can buy fresh veggies every day,” said Subhashini Raman, a resident of S M Palayam off Mettupalayam Road.