Price of the vegetables such as tomato small, tomato big, carrot, cauli local and white radish has increased by Rs 2 to Rs 25 whereas the price of vegetables like potato, cabbage, onion and sword beans have dropped by Rs 1 to Rs 11 per kg compared to last week. [break]
Lack of adequate supply from neighboring districts and low production in the valley are the major reasons for the current price rise.
“Vegetables produced in neighboring districts which should have been brought to the valley is not arriving. Short supply is causing price-rise,” said an official at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB).
Binaya Shrestha, a senior planning officer at KFVMDB, said a decline in supplies has led to a rise in prices. In normal season provided that the supply situation is smooth, around 600 metric tons of vegetables enter the valley daily from neighboring districts. But with the arrival of autumn season, only around 350 to 400 metric tons of vegetables is arriving in the valley on a daily basis.
Major price rise has been seen in small tomato, big tomato and local cauli which has increased by Rs 25, Rs 21 and Rs 25 a kg respectively. The increment of price in some of these vegetables is as high as 70 percent in a week´s time.
“As the production of all these vegetables has declined at local as well as in international markets, price of some vegetables has been continuously increasing,” said Shrestha.
He further added that compared to last week, price of vegetables has increased by almost 30 percent and it will continue to rise further as there is low supply but demand is high.
Price of fruits has been continuously increasing as Nepal has to import fruits from India and China to meet the local demand.
Related story
Lab test still mandatory for Indian fruits, veg at Bhairahawa c...
