As Floods Ravage Sindh, Pakistan Imports Vegetables From India.

CHANDIGARH: Damage to vegetables in Sindh by heavy rains has led to a sudden jump in demand for Indian vegetables through Attari-Wagah land route, Amritsar-based exporters said on Monday.

Against usual supply of 10-15 trucks (10 tonne per truck) of tomatoes per day four to five days back, its supply by land route has shot up to 70-80 trucks of tomatoes per day, exporters said. “We were sending just 20 trucks of tomatoes few days back. As there is heavy damage to vegetable crop in Pakistan by rains, the demand for Indian tomato increased sharply,” Amritsar-based vegetable merchant Rajdeep Uppal Monday told Press Trust of India PTI news agency.

Entire lot of tomatoes is being sourced from Nasik in Maharashtra in order to supply to Pakistan. Red chilly is another commodity which is in demand from across the border, he said. Indian exporters are anticipating further orders of vegetables including lady finger and bitter gourd in next two weeks.

“We have inquiries for supply of lady finger and bitter gourd from Pakistan. We are hopeful of receiving sizeable orders for these vegetables in next 15 days from Pakistan based traders,” Anil Mehra, another vegetable exporter said. Demand for Indian onion could also emerge from Pakistan if ban on export of bulb is withdrawn by Indian authorities.

Prices of vegetables in lower Sindh have risen sharply over the past weeks as supplies were affected following the floods.

The prices of vegetables have gone up by a 100%, and their supply by 50%. The price of onion increased by Rs20 per kilogramme, potatoes- Rs15, tomatoes- Rs20, and okra- Rs40.

Source : tribune.com.pk