The prices of all varieties of vegetables are falling sharply in Sambalpur in comparison to other parts of the State. Most importantly, the price of potato is Rs 20 only in Sambalpur whereas it is Rs 25 to Rs 28 in other parts.

A few days back at the beginning of the lockdown, the price of potato had reached Rs 40. Collector Subham Saxena, after getting a complaint, had assured of prompt action and even went to the extent of initiating legal action against the hoarders and black marketers. And that worked.

The result was that suddenly price came down to Rs 20 and it remained so since then.

Potato and onion apart, the prices of other vegetables, green vegetables in particular, are also the lowest. The reason is there is no buyer for the produce in the markets in Sambalpur and Bargarh districts due to the lockdown and fear of public to go to market freely. Hence, the farmers prefer to sell their produce to the middlemen at throw away price.

This has led to a sudden dipping in the prices of the vegetables in the ongoing summer with brinjal selling just at Rs 15, ladies finger at Rs 20-30, bitter gourd at Rs 30 and rest others at equally lower prices.

“We have no market now. It is also equally difficult to come from our villages to Sambalpur,” said roadside vendor Ratani Mirdha from Kadalimunda of Jujomura block.

Mrutyunjay Panigrahi, a leading farmer of Padiabahal, lamented that it was the farmers who had faced the jerks due to the sudden fall in prices of vegetables.