The Federation of Koyambedu Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers and Food Grains Traders’ Associations has announced that all shops would remain closed on May 5 on account of Traders’ day.
Nearly 3,941 shops in the Koyambedu wholesale market complex would not function on Thursday and the trade would stop from Wednesday night and resume from Thursday midnight.
The market witnessed a marginal increase on Wednesday as the next day was declared a holiday by the federation comprising 27 associations. The Federation’s president G.D.Rajasekaran said the market received an additional 50 truckloads of vegetables on Wednesday instead of the daily share of 400 truck loads. The sales had also increased by 20%.
Some of the vegetables’ prices continued to remain on the higher side due to lower supply. Traders noted that this may further escalate during peak summer season and is expected to drop only after a month.
M.Thyagarajan, a tomato wholesaler and federation’s vice president, said the market received only half of the tomato loads due to poor harvest in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as well. One kg of tomatoes were sold for a rate up to ₹65 depending on the quality and the variety. Several small and marginal farmers refrained from tomato harvest as it was sold at a throw away price until a few weeks ago. The start of the peak summer season was another reason, he added.
Some of the other vegetables that were expensive include beans and broad beans (₹40-₹60/kg). Lemons (₹140-₹160/kg) and coriander leaves (₹200/kg) were most expensive in the wholesale market.
EOM
