Cauliflower crops damaged by the cyclone at Rasulpur in Jajpur. Telegraph picture

Berhampur, Oct. 20: Cyclone Phailin has pushed up the prices of vegetables in Berhampur.

Brinjal, cauliflower, ladies finger, pumpkin, gourd and papaya, which were available in Ganjam district before the cyclone, have gone missing from the markets. Though vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, capsicum and tomato come from Bangalore to Berhampur, sources said the supply was not sufficient and consequently, the prices had skyrocketed.

“The rates of almost all vegetables have doubled following the cyclone,” said Kalia Panda, 40, who has been in the vegetable business for 25 years.

Revenue divisional commissioner (southern) Bikash Chandra Mahapatra, who reviewed the situation here, admitted that vegetable crops have been damaged in Ganjam. “The farmers are in distress,” he said.

“The price of tomato, which was Rs 25 a kg before the cyclone, is now Rs 50 a kg. Likewise cauliflower has climbed from Rs 40 to Rs 60, beans from Rs 40 to Rs 50, brinjal from Rs 20 to Rs 40, ladies finger from Rs 20 to Rs 40, cabbage from Rs 20 to Rs 30 and pointed gourd from Rs 30 to Rs 50,” said Panda. He said that the scarcity of vegetables in Berhampur would persist for another two months till the local production started.

Sarat Chandra Panda, a retired income tax officer staying at Chikiti Bunglow here, said the skyrocketing rates of vegetables had pinched his pocket. “Also, the quality of vegetables is not at all good now,” he said.

Crops destroyed

Floods following cyclone Phailin submerged about 500 hectares of standing vegetable crops in Rasulpur block, where Artia is located.

About 90 per cent of people in the area solely depend on vegetable cultivation for their survival. Most of the vegetables-growers are sharecroppers who do not have their own land.

Rasulpur block is known as the vegetable hub of Odisha. The crops that were destroyed included cauliflower, tomato, brinjal, cucumber, bitter gourd, pointed gourd, ladies finger and chili.

Apart from local consumption, hundred of truckloads of vegetables are transport to various towns and cities across the state from here every day.

“We are now depending on Bengal, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh for our needs. Consequently, the price of vegetables will increase,” said Dayanidhi Sahu, a vegetable wholesaler.

“The total loss of vegetable crops has been pegged at Rs 2 crore according to primary estimates,” said district agriculture officer Rajib Lochan Das.