Indian kitchens are witnessing a spike in the cost of several food items compared to last month.
Sputnik spoke with traders at Azadpur Mandi, Asia's largest wholesale market, to find out what is happening.
One trader, Nishant Gulati, said that the price of tomatoes at the market is about INR 130 per kg, with many expecting it to rise further to INR 170-180 a kg this week.
Gulati said those prices were rising for other essential vegetables like onions, ginger, potatoes and others.
He added that a significant part of northern India depended upon Himachal Pradesh region for supplies, but that roads there are broken due to extreme rainfalls.
Meanwhile, supplies also come from the Indian state of Maharashtra, however, due to erratic weather (no rainfall in many parts and extreme in other regions) – crops have been impacted there too.
India's Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh states are the primary sources of most vegetables and supply to the majority of the country.
Traders have cited various reasons – majorly all related to erratic weather, extreme rainfall in March, and cyclone Biparjoy accompanied by heavy downpours, which resulted in the devastation of farmers' crops - as causing tomato prices to rise four to five times of late.
Moreover, unseasonal rain in March adversely affected the cumin crop and ginger likewise. According to wholesalers, all vegetable costs had jumped by one to two times.
Dhruv Bhosin, an owner of Delhi Ginger Trading Company, told Indian media that ginger's price has increased in the past two months as rain in Karnataka and Manipur in March worsened the situation.
Sudha Gosain, a homemaker, said that although the media is just showing that the price of tomatoes is rising, all vegetables are rising.
What Does Government Data Say?
Information from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution's Price Monitoring Division shows that prices of essential food items, including rice, wheat, tur dal, sugar, milk, tea (loose), salt, potato (8.8%), onion (11.1%) and tomatoes (up to three times) increased on a month-on-month basis.
As per experts, the primary reason is climate change which is affecting the crops. A study titled Impact of Climate Change on Vegetable Crops and its Mitigation said that climate change leads to frequent crop failures, low yields, decreased quality, and increased pest and diseases.