Vegetable prices have shot up over the past few days. As it happens, both the farmers and consumers are reeling under this artificial price hike, while middlemen of APMC markets, as well as, vendors and hawkers are ripping off huge profits

Yogesh Sapkale

The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation fell to 4.7% in May, driven mainly by declining prices of manufactured items. However, this hides the fact about sky-high prices of vegetables and fruits. Just ask any common man about vegetable prices in his area.

Normally, prices of vegetables and fruits remain on the higher side between May and July due to unavailability and thus lower supply. However, this time around, prices of vegetables, especially in and around Mumbai are touching a new high every day. First, these people cited the local body tax (LBT) as reason for high prices of vegetables, ignoring the fact that there is no LBT on vegetables. This game of price increasing is being played mainly due to cartelisation of vendors and Agricultural and Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act that prevents farmers from selling their produce directly to consumers.

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