Vegetable and fruits prices have shot up across Pakistan after flooding destroyed crops and disrupted supplies.
Balochistan in particular faces shortages, where several cities including Quetta, Mastung, Machh, and Nushki, have been affected due to drastic decrease in food transportation.
The available vegetables are being sold at inflated prices as 1-kilogram onion and potato are available at Rs100, tomatoes at Rs180, okra at Rs150 to Rs200, eggplant at Rs100, and peas at Rs250 to Rs300.
In the eastern city of Lahore, close to the border with India and far from the worst floods in Sindh province, the prices of some vegetables have tripled.
The Pakistani government sets prices for some fresh produce, but traders often ignore them.
Earlier, the Ministry of Commerce in a session decided to import onions and tomatoes from Afghanistan and Iran to control soaring prices of the commodities in the country after flooding damaged the crops in the country.
Pakistan’s 220 million people are already facing rising inflation, with the consumer price index (CPI) has hit a 47-year high by accelerating to 27.3 per cent in August 2022
The economy is in turmoil, with fast-depleting foreign reserves and a record depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.
Officials said that more than 800,000 hectares of agricultural land had been flooded, destroying most standing crops and preventing farmers from planting anew.
Pakistan’s agriculture sector accounts for more than a fifth of the country’s economic output, employing up to 40 per cent of the workforce and producing goods worth about $80 billion annually.
