The two successive seasons of insufficient rainfall has worsened supply of horticulture crops in western Indian states including Maharashtra and Gujarat.
This has resulted in a sharp increase in the prices of vegetables with some varieties disappearing from spot markets. While vegetable supply has already deteriorated, the situation is likely to aggravate with rising temperature in coming weeks. It may also hit milk supply in coming months.
“There is an acute shortage of water in many districts of Maharashtra. The nearby state of Gujarat is also facing drought. Hence, the supply of vegetables and fodder has been very low. Consequently, vegetables prices have skyrocketed. Farmers have started migrating for safe place in the districts like Aurangabad, Sangli, Vidarbha among others,” said a senior Maharashtra government official.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture has reported a total foodgrains output at 142.27 million tonnes for kharif 2018-19 as against the total output of 140.73 million tonnes for the previous year.
“Vegetables prices have increased sharply due to lower supply. Unavailability of fodder due to drought in Maharashtra has also jacked up cost of milk production resulting into lower profit margins for farmers. To pass on the cost of production increase, therefore, farmers may raise their milk prices by up to Rs 2 a litre in coming months,” said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Care Ratings.
