Bhubaneswar, Nov. 23: Vegetables are becoming affordable again, much to the relief of consumers. As winter sets in, vegetables have started coming in again from farms near the capital. And the good news is, market players predict that greens will continue to be affordable till the end of January.

Homemakers are happy that sought-after vegetables such as cauliflower, French beans, capsicum, pointed gourd, brinjal and country beans are now available at affordable prices. The vegetables are coming in from places like Pipili, Athgarh, Banki, Nimapara, Bayalish Mouza and Baghamari. With transportation cost going down, the prices have dipped.

“During the holy month of Kartik, vegetable prices were sky-rocketing and it was very difficult to have variety on your platter. But now the situation is improving and it is really good for middle-class people like us. The prices of vegetables such as cauliflower and capsicum are indicators of the overall price index. When they start going down, others follow. At Unit-I vegetable market, cauliflower is available at half the price a month ago,” said Kananbala Swain, a homemaker from Unit-VI.

A month ago you could buy cauliflower for Rs 30 to 40 per piece. You can now buy it for Rs 15 to Rs 20 a piece at Unit-I Vegetable Market. Likewise, the prices of capsicum, French beans, pointed gourd, papaya and cucumber have also shown a sharp dip. Sources said that for two months — December and January — the state becomes self-reliant in vegetable production. But after that period, Odisha again starts depending on neighbouring states for supply of vegetables.

“This year, the floods in September wreaked havoc at many vegetable producing belts near the city. But in the post-flood situation rich soil deposits on the riverbanks have meant high vegetable yield. The low prices are likely to continue till February,” said Gayadhar Swain, general secretary of Unit I Market Traders’ Association.

Swain added that cauliflower and cabbage supply was increasing every day.

“We hope rates will go down further. However, there is no scientific way of preserving the vegetables like it is done in vegetable producing belts in Karnataka. If we had such a preservation system for vegetables, price control after the winter season would have been possible,” he said.

He added that more than 40 per cent of vegetable produce in the state perishes because of lack of a preservation mechanism.

The state government may think over this. More than 40 per cent of the vegetable produce is perishing in Odisha because of the lack of a preservation mechanism,” he said.

Homemaker Sarojini Kar, who was at Unit I Vegetable Market today, said “the local production should also go up in other seasons other than the winter months. With increasing land holding coming under real-estate development the organic farming methods around Bhubaneswar is almost gone down and after a few years there would be no farmland left for vegetable farming. There should be a proper regulation to conserve the farmland so that development and agriculture should go simultaneously. On the other hand more and more youths should be encouraged to adopt agriculture as livelihood option and the state government must offer more incentives for this.”

Government employee Nirmal Ranjan Mohapatra added that for salaried class the news of a fall in vegetable price is a welcome development. “But there should be more initiative by the agriculture authorities to allow the original farmers to sell their produce directly to the consumers. The middle-men are in fact, increasing the prices. The farmers must get enough platform to sell their products. If they do not get the right price, then how can they get inspiration for their work?” he observed.