KARACHI, July 29: The ongoing Monsoon rains have not only affected the supplies of fruits and vegetables from upcountry and rural areas of Sindh but have also resulted in reduction of the number of buyers in the main New Sabzi Mandi, wholesalers complained on Tuesday.

Haji Javed of the Malir Wholesale Fresh Fruit Merchants and Growers Association told Dawn that the profit margin was no more than 10 per cent and 15 per cent, adding that it had also gone down in the wake of the reduction in the number of buyers.

He said that the weather was hampering supply of mangoes from the interior of Sindh and Punjab because of the inclement weather, creating a shortage of the fruit in the city.

The same situation, he said, prevailed with the supply of bananas in the market, adding that most of the fruit originated from Mirpurkhas, Tando Adam and Pir-jo-Goth areas.

He said that previously, banana crop in Thatta had suffered from virus and from the long spell of drought, which had come to an end with the arrival of the Monsoon rains.

Referring to the vegetable supply situation, he said, tomatoes, spinach, pumpkins, coriander, green chilies were also in short supply, adding that the shortage had pushed up their prices by 10 per cent and 15 per cent.

However, the price of onions had been reduced on fears of rotting of the stock.

The fear of unfair bargains, he said, also kept growers from going to markets to sell their produce.