Lemon Prices Soar To All-time High Across India

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What’s happening?

Vegetable prices including lemons, tomatoes, capsicums, etc have gone up across the country.
Vegetable sellers are saying that they are facing shrinking profits and reduced sales due to the rise in vegetable prices.
Among vegetables, one of the steepest hikes can be observed in prices of lemon and chilli.
A single lemon costs somewhere between Rs 18-Rs 25 in Gujarat.
It is selling for around Rs 300 per kg in wholesale market.
Retail prices have soared further to Rs 400 per kg in Jodhpur.
In Delhi, lemon prices are ranging between Rs 300 to Rs 350 per kg which means even one piece costs more than Rs 10.
This has made the staple ‘nimbu-pani’ a luxury drink for common people in the scorching heat.

A vegetable seller in Hyderabad told that he used to purchase a whole stake of lemon for Rs 700 earlier but, the same now costs him Rs 3,500.
Similarly, chillies are also being sold at stepper rates across cities.
In Bengaluru, the price of green chilli spiked to Rs120 per kg two days back.
In Delhi too, 1 kg of green chillies cost more than a litre of petrol.

Netizens even took to social media sites to make memes of rising prices.
One user said that bikes and cars will now have stickers of lemon and chilli instead of original ones.
Besides, items as basic as these which were earlier given at minimal prices by vendors or sometimes even for free are taking buyers by surprise and most are refusing to buy them.

Vegetable sellers have been facing shrinking profits and reduced sales as due to the increased transportation cost and leading to the ultimate hike in buying prices.
The raise in petrol, diesel and CNG prices since March 22 has caused a ripple effect on cost of transporting vegetables for venders.

It is pertinent to mention that fuel prices in India stayed constant for the fourth day in a row on Sunday, after rising by around Rs 10 in the last two weeks.
Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, fuel prices are seen skyrocketing.
Earlier, in a bid to control soaring gas prices amid the Russia-Ukraine war, US President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered a release of 1 million oil barrels per day from Strategic Petroleum
Reserves (SPR) for six months.

Rates of lemon are also soaring due to unfavourable weather in Gujarat.
A cyclone has destroyed plants in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat which have affected the supply chain, creating a shortage.
However, the demand for lemon increases in summers which imbalances the already disturbed supply-demand
Besides, demand for lemon has also been rising as the nation celebrates two important festivals amid the rising summer heat.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that world food prices hit an all-time high in March as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent “shocks” through markets for staple grains and vegetable oils.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said its Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices for a basket of commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month, up 12.6% from February.
FAO said the war in Ukraine was largely responsible for the 17.1% rise in the price of grains, including wheat and others like oats, barley and corn.

Q) Which of the following is not a Kharif crop?