KARACHI: “As it is fruit was expensive and out of our reach, now the vegetables are also catching up,” said one woman after inquiring after the rate of onions at a vegetable vendor’s at Korangi Crossing.

The woman was promptly informed by the vendor that he was not the one responsible for raising costs as he himself got the vegetables at a high rate from the vegetable mandi. “The rates have gone up there. This is not my fault. I also have to make an earning so that I can feed my family,” he pointed out.

“The cost of even the most basic vegetables is on the rise now. I mean how does one expect us to even cook lentils without onions or tomatoes?” one frustrated citizen wondered aloud after asking for a kilogramme of tomatoes and then changing the order to half a kilo after hearing the cost of tomatoes. “I’ll buy more later when the prices come down,” he said.

Tomatoes, which one could buy for Rs50 to Rs60 a kilo last week only, are available now for over Rs100 per kg.

“Are their prices even going to drop?” a vegetable vendor in a DHA commercial area wondered after glancing skywards. “The price of tomatoes will skyrocket if it rains sahib,” he announced with a smile, trying to convince the gentleman to buy more of them now.

One must have often wondered what had rain got to do with tomato prices? “But it is true that they do become rather costly when it pours,” the vegetable vendor said.

“Tomato is a delicate plant. It gets ruined in rain if the ground gets flooded. The entire crop gets ruined that way and so there is a sudden shortage in the market,” he explained.

Another vendor in PECHS said that not just rain, all kinds of extreme weather conditions can have a negative impact on the tomato crop. “The tomatoes you see in our market right now are neither coming from Sindh, nor Punjab. It is coming from Iran now, and transporting it here through Balochistan also adds to its costliness,” he explained.

Another basic vegetable that is also becoming rather expensive for its own good happens to be the onion. “Well, it has not become as costly as tomatoes but yes, onions were available for around Rs30 until last week. They are now Rs35 per kg,” said the vendor, who added that weather also affects the onion crop.

Some people Dawn spoke to about the sudden rise in vegetable prices were of the view that it was because of Eidul Azha. But when vegetable sellers were asked about it, most shrugged and shook their heads. “Here commodity prices fluctuate daily. Eid is still several days away,” one of them replied.

But then there was also one who said that hoarding or stocking up ahead of the Eid holidays or in fear of a fourth Covid-19 wave can cause a shortage in the market which impacts the prices.

Other vegetables that have also shocked buyers with their rising prices are the bitter gourd or karela and okra/ladyfinger or bhindi. “Well, it is not that expensive,” a vegetable seller in Saddar tried to reason. “Two days ago, bhindi was selling at Rs140 per kg and it is Rs150 now. Similarly, karela was selling at Rs100 per kg earlier and now it is Rs110,” he provided.

“With vegetables becoming so expensive, what can one do? Fruit one can live without. But we cannot do without vegetables as well. Even if we forget about having salads with meals, we need to cook vegetables because meat and chicken we cannot afford to cook every day,” pointed out another buyer at a vegetable stall in Empress Market.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2021