Officials of Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board said vegetable prices have come down amid rise in supplies and lack of proper storage facilities. [break]
“Prices have come down mainly due to rise in supplies from neighboring district as this happens to be the main harvesting season for some major vegetables,” said Binaya Shrestha, senior planning officer at the board, said.
Prices of popular vegetables like potato, tomato cauliflower, brinjal, radish, green beans, tomato, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, carrot, cabbage, pointed gourd and French beans have come down in range of Rs 1-12 per kg, compared to last week. However, prices of onion, ginger and garlic have remained constant.
According to conservative estimates, the demand for vegetables in the capital hovers around 1,000 tons. The Kalimati market supplies about 70 percent of the demand, according to Shrestha.
“The Kalimati market at present is receiving around 700 tons of vegetables a day, up from average daily supplies of 550 tons,” said Geeta Parsad Acharya, a trader at Kalimati wholesale market.
The wholesale price of big tomato has dropped to Rs 25 per kg from last week´s Rs 30 per kg, while price of small tomato has come down to Rs 24 per kg from Rs 32 per kg of last week. Similarly, price of white and red potato has come down by Rs 4 and Rs 5 per kg, respectively and are selling at Rs 26 and Rs 30 per kg. Likewise, cauliflower is selling at Rs 34 per kg, down from last week´s Rs 47 per kg.
Prices of cow pea, carrot and green onion have come down by Rs 11 per kg each to Rs 27, Rs 46 and Rs 40 per kg respectively. Bitter gourd and smooth gourd are selling at Rs 19 and Rs 16 per kg respectively, down by Rs 4 per kg each. Similarly, brinjals are selling at Rs 12 per kg, down by Rs 4 per kg compared to last week.
Prices of leafy vegetables like cress leaf, fenugreek leaf, spinach leaf and mustard leaf have also come down in the market.
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