Good news for householders: seasonal vegetables have become cheaper thanks to favorable climatic conditions. Bright sunlight during the day and cold weather at night have led to better vegetable yields of some crops, causing prices to fall last month.
A business line An analysis of 14 seasonal vegetable prices at agricultural marketplaces (mandis) found that average daily prices across India on January 3 fell by 1-71 percent from year-ago levels in the case of radish, coriander, cauliflower, brinjal, pumpkin, tomato, bottle gourd, okra, carrot and cabbage.
However, during this period there has been an increase in the prices of peppers (by 6.3 percent), onions (by 18.3 percent), cucumbers (by 78.7 percent) and potatoes (by 85 percent).
On the other hand, retail prices of all essential vegetables – onion, potato and tomato – are higher than a year ago, though the increase is minimal in the case of onions (by Rs 1.44/kg) and tomato (by Rs 2. 71/kg). kilo). But the average selling price of potatoes across India was Rs 10.36/kg higher on January 3 compared to a year ago.
Impact on inflation
Primary food inflation fell to 8.63 percent in November 2024 from 13.54 percent in October 2024, pushing the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation rate down from 2.4 percent to a three-month low of 1.89 percent in November 2024. recorded in October 2024. In the food basket, vegetable inflation fell the most (28.6 percent in November 2024 versus 63 percent on October 24), while rates for onions, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers and beans, among others, fell.
Anil K Sood, professor and co-founder of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Complex Choices, said: “If we ignore vegetable price inflation for 2019 and 2024, it has been negative during these months since 2014. In fact, the monthly average vegetable price inflation of 26.9 percent this year is the highest in a decade.” Sood expects that vegetable price inflation will also be at a higher level in December and January, which will also increase overall inflation.
Pointing out that the average vegetable price inflation even during the pandemic year 2020 was 17 percent, he said high vegetable prices during winter months are an unusual and recent phenomenon.
There has been a moderation in vegetable inflation, especially in tomatoes whose prices have risen at the slowest pace in two months, said Paras Jasrai, Senior Analyst at India Ratings & Research. Onion prices continued to decline for the second month in a row in December 2024. But potato prices have risen at the sharpest pace: 51.9 percent (yoy).
“Retail inflation could fall closer to 5 percent in December 2024 and if the trend continues, retail inflation could be between 4.5 and 5 percent in January 2025,” Jasrai said.
