Early October rains caused a lot of issues for farmers across the country. The heavy untimely monsoon resulted in a massive surge in the prices of vegetables and fruits. Farmers struggled to produce vegetables to meet the demands causing prices to hike.

Monsoon, which usually ends in the month of September, continued till mid-October this year which destroyed fields of ready-to-be-harvested paddy and vegetables which caused price surges. “The rain ruined a lot of farms and ready to sell vegetables”, Sunil Mahat, a local vegetable vendor at Maitidevi says. “Traders themselves are hiking prices to make up for the loss of production”, he adds.

According to Binay Shrestha, spokesperson of Kalimati Fruits & Vegetable Market Development Board, a hike in the prices of vegetables after monsoon is very normal. “It highly depends on the amount of rainfall. If the rain causes a lot of damage to farmers, prices will naturally increase”, he says. “Transportation issues due to floods and landslides also play a role in the increase in prices”, he adds.