Steep rise in prices of cooking essentials burns a hole in pocket

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

ginger, chillies and cumin are putting pressure on the kitchen bills. On Monday, the price of tomatoes at Delhi’s Azadpur mandi, Asia's largest wholesale market, shot up to rs 130 per kg from rs 100 on Friday. This is expected to increase the prices at the retail level to rs 170-180 a kg this week, traders said, while also warning of the prices possibly crossing the rs 200 mark. Ginger, a basic essential for Indian cooking, costs Rs 320 per kg at the retail level compared with Rs 200 a month ago, as supplies from Karnataka have reduced due to unseasonal rains causing damage to the crop. The ongoing unrest in Manipur has also shrunk supply of ginger from the state. Cumin or jeera, an essential spice in Indian kitchens, is hovering around Rs 55,750 per quintal at Gujarat’s Unjha Mandi. Jeera prices have rallied sharply on the back of strong domestic and export demand, coupled with a tight supply situation due to lower yield in the two main producer states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. A three-year low carryover stock of 50,000-60,000 tonnes has further pressurised the supply. “Unseasonal rains in March have affected the production of jeera adversely,” said Arvind Patel, vice president of the Unjha mandi.

Households are making a 'small switch' to deal with rising food prices

On tomatoes, Ashok Kaushik, president of the Tomato Traders Association at Azadpur, said the surge in prices was quite steep this time. “The same phenomenon had happened in 2017. Unseasonal rains in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have damaged the crop,” he said. The northern states are now depending on supplies from Himachal Pradesh, he said, adding: “Supply from Maharashtra is also less as the crop there has been affected due to