The supply of vegetables to the Dambulla Economic Centre has dropped by about 75 percent and their price level has also reduced by about 20 percent, Chairman of the Centre’s Trade Union U.B. Ekanayaka said.
However, the advantages of such price reductions do not go to the consumers, he said.
He further said that consumers have to buy vegetables from the vendors paying more than double the wholesale price. The Chairman stated that the middleman benefits the most from the declining vegetable prices in the wholesale market.
The Government should implement a system to enable consumers to obtain vegetables at reasonable prices. At present, the market receives less than 400,000 kilograms of vegetables per day, he said.
Meanwhile, the number of buyers has also decreased currently due to the shortage of vegetables. The price of a kilogram of ladies’ finger was Rs.50, while beans and carrots sell at Rs. 180 per kilo. The prices of other vegetables has also fallen, the Chairman said.
The price of a kilogram of chillies exceeded Rs. 1,000. This situation has arisen due to the non-availability of chemical fertilizers to farmers. If the Government takes steps to avoid this problem, the shortage of vegetables can be avoided within two months, Ekanayaka added.
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