The rise in vegetable prices is a man made farce

The rise in vegetable prices is a man made farce.

The country has seen a sharp rise in the prices of vegetables - the prices of basic vegetables like onion, tomato and cabbage have grown by 3 to 5 folds in last a last few months. Some blame it on the nature while others believe that all this rise in the prices of vegetables is a farce and can be easily controlled. Let us see what arguement each group of people has -

Rains have caused the havoc

1. The late rain in states like Gujarat which is a major supplier of Tomatoes to Maharashtra are to be blamed for the rise in price of tomatoes. These late rains in states like Gujarat have converted them from being the suppliers of tomatoes to the importers of tomatoes.

2. Some parts of the country have seen tremendous rainfall this year. This has resulted in bad crop yield of Onions. The production of a lot of other green vegetables have also seen a downfall with excess rains.

3. The wet weather has led to the increase in rotting vegetables which are not good for human consumption.

Human greed and mismanagement is to be blamed

1. The real problem in the agriculture is not with the production but with the storage and supply chain management system. While we blame the nature of low production, we see huge quantities of vegetable rotting for lack of proper storage.

2. Hoarders blame it on production but actually do not let the crop to come to the market for the greed of earning more money.

3. The MNCs into the business of food processing like chips/ fries/ ketchups buy the onions, tomatoes and potatoes in bulk and store causing a lack of supply in market.

4. With the shortage of vegetables inside the state and soaring prices, some states suspend the supply of crop outside the state further pushing the rates to the roof.

5.The export of a vegetable should be put to fullstop as soon as a we foresee a crisis approaching us. However, our alert system usually work a little too late and we end up exporting all the good produce even though we have a shortage in our own market. Further to this, when we realise that there is a shortage we import them from other countries further pushing the rates higher.

Conclusion

The effect of climatic conditions on yield can not be denied but India is a huge country with varied environmental conditions in each state. If our alert system works well and if we streamline our production, storage and supply chain management systems, we can easily control the prices of vegetables.