Traders and officials said vegetable and fruits prices have been going down in the market in the last few weeks as farmers in major source districts are busy harvesting fresh produces.
“Prices of vegetables have sharply dropped over the last one month. The arrivals of vegetables have further increased following the three-day general shutdown called by the UCPN (Maoist) last week,” said Ramesh Maharjan, an officer at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board, told myrepublica.com on Monday.
Maharjan said total arrival of vegetables, fruits, spices and fish rose to 822 tons on Sunday from 700 recorded on Thursday. According to Maharjan, vegetables account for over 70 percent of the total arrivals in Kalimati wholesale market. During lean season, arrivals used to hover around 350 tons per day.
“Arrivals of potatoes, tomatoes and cauliflower have increased remarkably. About 192 tons of potatoes, the most popular vegetable item, arrived in the market on Sunday alone,” Maharjan added. He also said healthy flow of potatoes from Kavre, Bhaktapur, Nuwakot and Dhading along with Indian cities has been recorded in the last couple of weeks.
The improving supplies of vegetables have pushed down prices in the market, much to the relief of consumers. Wholesale price of big and small tomatoes dipped to Rs 28 and Rs 9 per kg on Monday, from Rs 40 and Rs 32 per kg respectively recorded a month ago. Price of other popular vegetables white potatoes, dry onion and carrot also dropped to Rs 21, Rs 37 and Rs 22 per kg from Rs 24, Rs 38 and Rs 35 per kg respectively over the period.
Similarly, prices of cabbage, local cauliflower and Tarai cauliflower also came down to Rs 9, Rs 20 and Rs 16 per kg from Rs 18, Rs 30 and Rs 20 per kg respectively. Cucumber also dropped from Rs 40 to Rs 24 per kg over the period.
However, the price of red potatoes saw a marginal rise of Rs 4 per kg on Monday from Rs 28 recorded a month ago.
“Despite increasing flow, price of red potatoes has not dropped as expected as customers prefer newly harvested red potatoes regardless of their prices,” said Geeta Prasad Acharya, a vegetable wholesaler at Kalimati market.
The price of apple, one of the most popular fruits, also dropped to Rs 65 from Rs 70 over the period. However, prices of banana and orange rose to Rs 35 per dozen and Rs 60 per kg from Rs 30 and Rs 40 respectively. Price of Chinese garlic rose to Rs 122 from Rs 118 per kg recorded a month ago. Price of Nepali garlic, however, remained almost stagnant at Rs 125 per kg over the period.
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