The vegetable chop
A 61 per cent spurt in the prices of vegetables and fresh produce, owing to a contraction in supply following unseasonal rains, has scripted the latest scene in an unrelenting inflationary crisis. Vegetable prices always rise with the onset of summer because of lower crop yields and increased wastage in the supply chain. Incidentally, one of the expected spinoffs of FDI in retail is investment in better cold-chain management, which would reduce the effect of weather on the price of fresh produce. But the present crisis has no immediate solution, since cold chains cannot be installed overnight and the falling value of the rupee would make imports expensive.