The inflow of vegetables from various districts and other states has been on the rise. This has now led to the fall in the prices of the vegetables in wholesale and retail markets in Chennai city. According to the traders this fall in the prices of the vegetables is due to heavy rainfall combined with good harvesting. The sizable number of lorries transporting vegetables to the rain battered Kerala returned to the Koyambedu market due to the presence bad roads in the Kerala state. This was pointed by the marketing management committee of Koyambedu. The fall in the prices of vegetables has affected many. This was confirmed by the traders.
As per a trader, about a month back tomato was sold at Rs 20 and now it has come down to Rs 8. The prices of other vegetables like drumstick, brinjal, cabbage, radish and beans have reduced by 50 %.The trader also spoke about how the number of lorries coming to Koyambedu has risen to 400 as many lorries have stopped plying to Kerala state. The trigger to the prices of vegetables has been due to the inflow of vegetables.
Member of market management committee, Mr. V.R. Soundararajan expressed his thoughts. He spoke about how the business in Koyambedu market has been dull. The heavy rains and floods in the state of Kerala have added more worries of the traders. He then highlighted about the sluggish business that has reduced the turnover of the Koyambedu market. Mr. Soundararajan hinted that soon the business in Koyambedu market would pick up and there would be brisk business. He spoke confidently about the issues coming to an end soon.
A vendor at the Purasawalkam retail market spoke about how the vegetables are available in plenty at the wholesale markets and how the vegetables have been sold 10 to 20% higher than the purchasing cost.