Prices of leafy vegetables shoot up in Pune markets as rains intensify

Time of India

16-06-2025

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Pune: Fewer arrivals in the market have pushed up prices of some leafy greens, including fenugreek, spinach and spring onion. Heavy rains that came relatively earlier this year have impacted the harvest of some of these vegetables, vendors said.
Shweta Kulkarni, a resident of the NIBM Road areas, said prices of some of these greens are soaring. "The vendor nearby is selling methi (fenugreek) at Rs60-70 a bunch, and spinach availability has dipped," she said. The same bunches of methi were retailing at Rs20 in April this year, indicating a significant price hike.
Neelam Doshi, a resident of Kalyaninagar, said, "We have temporarily stopped consuming these greens because prices are unaffordable on a routine basis.
Even tomatoes are Rs50/kg, so overall grocery expenses are shooting up."
Rohit Suryavanshi, a wholesale vendor at Hadapsar, said, "Arrivals of some of the vegetables are less because of the rain. In the wholesale market, methi is selling at Rs30-40 a bunch, and spring onions at Rs20-25 a bunch. The price going forward will depend on the intensity of the monsoon."
Amol N, a vegetable vendor in Salunkhe Vihar, said, "No customer is willing to pay Rs70 for a bunch of methi.
If we split it into smaller bunches, customers complain that the price is too high for the quantity. We have just stopped procuring it from the wholesale market until the price eases off a bit."
Rajendra Suryavanshi, a wholesale vendor at the Agriculture Product Market Committee (APMC) market in Mandai, said most of the fenugreek and spinach that comes to the city is from around Pune district. "Prices are still high, but they came down by about 30% over the last 10 days on an overall basis.
This is because there was not much rain in the last week or so. Owing to the middlemen involved and transport costs, retail prices are much higher than wholesale," he said.
Prices online or on quick commerce are skyrocketing, too, said consumers. Sonali Deshmukh, a resident of Baner, said, "I usually order my vegetables online. Methi is selling at Rs80 a bunch, and platforms selling it cheaper are offering smaller bunches anyway.
I bought spring onions at Rs50 a bunch."
Consumers also complained that despite the higher prices, the quality of the leafies is not good. "The greens available in the market are extremely muddy, and often too many leaves are also damaged. I also found small worms a few times. It has become a more onerous task to clean and segregate these veggies," said Geeta Shetty, a resident of Pashan.
Pune: Fewer arrivals in the market have pushed up prices of some leafy greens, including fenugreek, spinach and spring onion.
Heavy rains that came relatively earlier this year have impacted the harvest of some of these vegetables, vendors said.
Shweta Kulkarni, a resident of the NIBM Road areas, said prices of some of these greens are soaring. "The vendor nearby is selling methi (fenugreek) at Rs60-70 a bunch, and spinach availability has dipped," she said. The same bunches of methi were retailing at Rs20 in April this year, indicating a significant price hike.
Neelam Doshi, a resident of Kalyaninagar, said, "We have temporarily stopped consuming these greens because prices are unaffordable on a routine basis. Even tomatoes are Rs50/kg, so overall grocery expenses are shooting up."
Rohit Suryavanshi, a wholesale vendor at Hadapsar, said, "Arrivals of some of the vegetables are less because of the rain. In the wholesale market, methi is selling at Rs30-40 a bunch, and spring onions at Rs20-25 a bunch.
The price going forward will depend on the intensity of the monsoon."
Amol N, a vegetable vendor in Salunkhe Vihar, said, "No customer is willing to pay Rs70 for a bunch of methi. If we split it into smaller bunches, customers complain that the price is too high for the quantity. We have just stopped procuring it from the wholesale market until the price eases off a bit."
Rajendra Suryavanshi, a wholesale vendor at the Agriculture Product Market Committee (APMC) market in Mandai, said most of the fenugreek and spinach that comes to the city is from around Pune district.
"Prices are still high, but they came down by about 30% over the last 10 days on an overall basis. This is because there was not much rain in the last week or so. Owing to the middlemen involved and transport costs, retail prices are much higher than wholesale," he said.
Prices online or on quick commerce are skyrocketing, too, said consumers. Sonali Deshmukh, a resident of Baner, said, "I usually order my vegetables online.
Methi is selling at Rs80 a bunch, and platforms selling it cheaper are offering smaller bunches anyway. I bought spring onions at Rs50 a bunch."
Consumers also complained that despite the higher prices, the quality of the leafies is not good. "The greens available in the market are extremely muddy, and often too many leaves are also damaged. I also found small worms a few times. It has become a more onerous task to clean and segregate these veggies," said Geeta Shetty, a resident of Pashan.