JEYPORE: Different dishes of potatoes make it to the common man’s menu in Koraput district. Low vegetable production in the once self-sufficient region has hit the consumers and traders hard. The prices have touched an all-time high of over Rs 50 a kg in different markets of the district. For the first time prices of vegetables have shot up from around Rs 40 to Rs 60 a kg in the markets, four times more than the corresponding periods in the past.Market sources said harvesting this year was hit by over 60 per cent during October due to scanty rainfall in Pottangi, Boipariguda, Borrigumma, Semiliguda and Lamtaput areas. Vegetables like brinjal, tomato, cauliflower and cabbage, mostly grown here, are found in limited quantities or are missing from the markets across the district. While the district’s requirement is over 100 tonne a day, only about 40 tonne vegetables reach the market. The price hike has also affected the vegetable traders with 50 per cent of them stopping import of the vegetables fearing losses. “We cannot import from other states by paying extra in this time of crisis,” said Santosh Sahu, a trader of Jeypore. However, a handful of traders have been importing the vegetables from neigbouring Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh and selling them at a premium. This was not the situation about three to five years back. The vegetable growers besides meeting local demand, used to export about 50 truck loads of vegetables to other states. But climate change and deficit rainfall during September and October have hit horticulture. The prices of vegetables would come down only after local production picks up in the coming days, hoped the agriculture officials of Koraput.
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