Along with staples, vegetables have also seen an upward trend in its prices. Prices for some commodities have almost doubled in last 1 year. The reason cited is erratic climatic condition. The prices for some quality of rice have also increased for this reason.

Our View: There are more reasons for such an increase in the prices. Vegetables need timely water and any variation, higher/lower, results into wastage/damage. The prices of vegetables are spot market based. It can be higher one day but can come down significantly the other day, it is due to demand and supply issues, in mandi, caused by unpredictable rainfall we see increase of prices.

Also, vegetable prices always include the margins earned by farmer/trader;  increase in the prices of essential commodity has made the farmers/traders to make more margins to make their ends meet.

Link: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/soaring_vegetable_prices_pinch_consumers.php