70% of households paid 25-100% more for tomato, potato and onion this year: Survey

Community social media platform LocalCircles conducted a survey to understand how much extra people were paying to purchase a kilogram of onions, potatoes and tomatoes. This comes as consumers show discernment over the rising price of these vegetables for the last two months.

The survey also intended to understand the average amount a household paid this year for buying these vegetables as compared to 2019.

The survey received more than 16,000 responses from citizens across 242 districts. Of this , 58 per cent respondents were from tier-1, 23 per cent from tier-2, and 17 per cent from tier-3, -4, and rural districts.

The survey revealed that notably, 71 per cent of citizens said they are paying more than ₹50 a kg for tomato, ₹40 a kg for potato, and ₹50 a kg for onion.

In comparison to a similar survey by LocalCircles published on September 11, 2020, 61 per cent of households had said they were paying more than ₹60 per kg for tomato, ₹ 30 per kg for potato, and ₹25 per kg for onion.

This means that while an average retail price majority of households paid per kilogram for potatoes rose by 30 per cent and onions rose by 100 per cent, while the price for tomatoes fell by 15 per cent in just one month.

The report further noted that 70 per cent of households said they paid 25-100 per cent higher prices this year for buying per kilogram of tomato, potato, and onion. Whereas, only 5 per cent of citizens said they “paid the same as last year”, while 1 per cent of citizens said they paid less in comparison to last year. 11 per cent voted for “can't say.”

This comes as many households have faced a significant loss of earnings or loss of employment during the pandemic. Sectors like tourism, hospitality, and restaurants have also faced severe cutbacks.