Kolhapur: The supply of vegetables from the rural parts of the district to the wholesale and retail markets of the city have been hit hard owing to heavy rains in the rural areas.The heavy rainfall has damaged the vegetable crops, which in turn has delayed the arrival of the vegetables in the markets. The city's wholesale market supply has declined by 50% for some vegetables as compared to the supply before the commencement of monsoon, a month ago, according to statistics released by the agriculture produce market committee (APMC).Traders from APMC claim that in the first month of monsoon, the supply is high as the farmers have to clear the land for sowing kharif crops. In the initial weeks, monsoon was mild, however rains have suddenly increased which has damaged vegetable crops. The exact damage to the crops cannot be estimated at present.“The decline in supply is the main reason for increase in prices. However, prices have not increased in the proportion to the decline in the supply. In the retail markets, the farmers are fetching good price for the vegetables they bring from the farms. Further, vendors are not taking the risk of procuring the vegetables from the APMC fearing it may get damaged in the heavy rain and therefore the prices have not been affected much in the APMC,” Shashikant Rawal, a trader from APMC said.Tomatoes, for instance, fetched Rs18 to Rs22 per kg in the retail market a month ago, the prices have now touched Rs30 per kg. However, comparatively in the wholesale markets the prices have not increased as much. Tomatoes fetched Rs8.5 per kg in the wholesale markets a month ago and on Sunday it was Rs11 per kg.The supply has dipped from 19,000kg to 9,700kg, almost 50% down, mostly owing to the heavy rains. Similarly, other staple vegetables have also seen a fall in supply and an eventual rise in prices. Usually the consumers turn to the pulses and other non-perishable farm produce during rains owing to less supply and high cost of vegetables.

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