The wholesale supply of vegetables from Southern regions has plunged by around 80 percent, driving up prices sharply, officials said. U. B. Ekanayake, patron of the Dambulla Specialized Economic Trading Centre’s Trade Association, confirmed that fish chillies and green chillies were selling for over Rs. 1,000 per kilo yesterday (18).
Ekanayake noted that while ground-grown vegetables such as carrots and leeks remained at normal supply levels, flower-grown vegetables were in short supply. The Dambulla wholesale market, which usually handles 8–10 lakh kilos of vegetables daily, received only about 3–4 lakh kilos yesterday, with lowland produce being particularly scarce.
The shortage has pushed the wholesale price of fish chillies up to Rs. 1,200 per kilo, and green chillies between Rs. 1,000–1,100 per kilo. Meanwhile, beans, tomatoes, eggplants, and beets were sold at Rs. 450–500 per kilo, carrots and leeks at Rs. 220 per kilo, cabbage at Rs. 180 per kilo, and pumpkin at Rs. 80–100 per kilo.
