Pune has witnessed a noticeable surge in the prices of essential vegetables such as onions, garlic, and cucumbers due to a drop in supplies from other states.
Vegetables like cauliflower and peas have also seen significant price hikes in the local market. Meanwhile, the price of drumsticks has dropped due to an increase in supply.
On Sunday, September 8, the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard saw the arrival of approximately 70 to 80 trucks of vegetables from Maharashtra as well as other states. This marks a decline from the 90 trucks that arrived the previous week.
The reduced supply has come from states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. Green chilies, cabbage, cluster beans, and drumsticks have been arriving in smaller quantities, which has driven up prices. Additionally, 50 to 60 truckloads of onions and 50 to 55 tempos of potatoes arrived from local areas and regions like Indore and Agra.
Local supplies from the Pune region, including Purandar, Parner, Wai, and Satara, have also been affected. Major vegetable arrivals included colocasia, okra, tomatoes, green chilies, bell peppers, peas, cucumbers, and pumpkins. While demand for these vegetables remains high, the limited supply from outside states has led to steep price increases.
Fruits like custard apples, melons, watermelons, papayas, sapodillas, and guavas have seen an increase in prices, while lemons have bucked the trend with a price drop. However, the prices of apples, sweet limes, pineapples, pomegranates, and oranges have remained stable.
The fruit market saw the arrival of large quantities of produce to meet the heightened demand, with supplies including 8 trucks of pineapples from Kerala, and over 100 tons of sweet limes and oranges. Despite the festival-induced demand, traders have managed to maintain steady supplies of popular fruits.
Similarly, the demand for flowers has surged, with prices increasing by 10% to 20%. Flowers are being sourced from Pune, Satara, Solapur, and Karnataka to meet the growing demand for decorative flowers used during the festival.
Flowers like marigolds, gladiolus, asters, and roses have all seen price hikes, with traders reporting brisk sales despite the higher costs.