Mangalore;August 13: After beans, tomato and ginger, now it’s the turn of onions and green chillies to bring tears. The price of onion which was aroundRs 35 per kg in the retail market a week ago, shot up to Rs 64 per kg on Monday. So has the price of green chillies which has gone from Rs 36 per kg to Rs 55 a kg this week.
Wholesale merchant Asif Iqbal attributes the rise in the price of onions to reduced supply from Maharashtra. “We used to get at least three loads per week and now it has reduced to two truck loads,” he said. Each truck load brings 10 tons of onion to the city. There are about seven wholesale merchants who deal with onion and potato here. The wholesale price ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 52 and it retails well above Rs 60.
On a brighter note, Iqbal says: “Once the crop from Hubli arrives, possibly within a fortnight, the prices will drop.”
Vegetable merchant at Central Market David D’Souza says: “Retail rates as on Monday touched Rs 64.” He said barring onions and green chillies, the prices of other vegetables has actually reduced by a few rupees.
He attributed the festive season of Ramzan and Nagarapanchami for the demand in green chillies which has led to the rise in price. Mangalore gets green chillies mainly from Chikmagalur district.
Hoteliers say that there will not be any change in the menu rates since this type of see-saw of prices goes on throughout the year. “We cannot increase the price just because onions, which is one of the major ingredient in our preparations, has increased. In the next few weeks, it will go down like the price of beans did,” said Ramesh, a caterer.
