Amid shortage of supply, price of kitchen staple green chilli has shot up to Rs 180 per kg in the retail, and traders at the wholesale market say that there will be no respite for at least one to two months. Farmers clear the field for fresh seeding ahead of monsoon and a dip in supply during this period is seen.
Earlier, vegetable vendors used to give green chili free of cost with other vegetables. Now, they do not even sell below Rs 10. “Its very difficult to give free as the wholesale price has even crossed Rs 100 per kg,” said Harun Shaikh, a vegetable vendor in Nerul, adding that green chili is perishable and so the overall cost of one kg goes upto Rs 130.
The retail price of green chili was around Rs 50 to 80 per kg which reached upto Rs 180 to Rs 200 per kg.
According to traders at Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi, the wholesale market receives green chili mainly from Maharashtra, and Gujarat. “During April and May, there is shortage of green chili as farmers clean the land for fresh seeding,” said a trader at APMC Vashi. He added that due to bad weather during January, crops were damaged and farmers decided to remove old plants for fresh seeding a little earlier.
Apart from Gujarat and Maharashtra, Mumbai also receives a little amount of green chili from West Bengal. But that supply has also gone down.
Around a week ago, the APMC Vashi was receiving around 40 to 50 vehicles laden with green vegetables. Now, the number of vehicles arriving in the market has dropped to 10. “Since around the supply has come down by 80%, the price is likely to rise,” said Viren Shah, a trader at APMC Vashi.
Suhani Kumari, a resident of Nerul says that the kitchen budget has gone out of control as after edible oil, its green chili that is pinching hard.
