Vegetable merchants blame hoarders for price escalation

KARACHI: Vegetable merchants on Wednesday blamed hoarders for the recent wave of price hike as they said big traders and importers maneuver green supplies in the market, taking advantage of contracting crop production this season.

“The production is low and then there is a seasonal impact, which is a regular phenomenon,” a vegetable trader Lala Raheem said. “But this time certain leading suppliers and importers are manipulating the market.”

Raheem said goods are mostly delivered to bullish markets.

“The authorities have granted import permits to a handful of favourite importers and they are squeezing the supplies to jack up prices,” he added. Prices of vegetables are variable in markets of Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore and Swat, “and the suppliers are only delivering to the markets where prices are higher creating a supply shortage in other markets.”

Vendors said vegetables are sold on exorbitant rates in the main fruit and vegetable market in Karachi.

“We are compelled to charge high rates to cover high cost of fuel and transportation.”

Khurram Khan, a vegetable wholesaler, said not all vegetables are being sold at high prices, but only those which are short in supply due to seasonal effect.

Khan agreed certain big players are playing with the market dynamics to maximise their profits. “Higher inflation, transportation costs and cost of doing business are also impacting vegetable traders,” he said. “Prices would normalise in a week or so as imports have begun from Iran and Afghanistan.”

The wholesaler said the supply was better last night as many vehicles had come from Iran, Swat and Harnai, “which would ease prices to some extent.”

Agriculture production has been declining due to unstable raining patterns and unavailability of good quality seeds. Vegetable produces in Balochistan are largely impacted this year due to power outages, which affected water supply.

Raheem said substandard seeds are being sold in the market as there is no check and balance, and hence cutting the production in Balochistan sharply by 40 percent.

All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers, Importers and Merchants Association Chairman Waheed Ahmed said the climate is changing, and it’s been happening for a very long time, but the government did not take any measures to tackle the situation.

“Global warming is an established phenomenon, which causes floods, draughts and unseasonal rains disturbing the agriculture production pattern,” Ahmed said. “There is no stability in agriculture production in Pakistan, sometime causing supply glut and sometime shortage.”

Ahmed, citing a 30 percent decline in cotton production, said the downtrend is not limited to vegetables as overall agriculture output is declining.

“The government must realise the changes in climate occurring due to global warming and encourage adoption of advanced technologies like the rest of the world to increase production,” he added.

On high prices of vegetables, Ahmed said the government should immediately issue import permits to genuine importers, as the local crops are not sufficient to meet the demand for a month. “If the imports are allowed, supply situation would normalise and prices would come down.”