Potato, onion push up food inflation to 13.68 per cent

The country is reeling under the impact of steep 13. 68 per cent rise in a number of food items pummelled by a supply crunch in staple potatoes.

Official price data based on the wholesale price index (WPI) released on Thursday showed that prices of potatoes have doubled during the one-year period ending October 31, 2009, while onions were costlier by 42.58 per cent.

The rise in prices potatoes can be primarily attributed to poor monsoons and traders not willing to release adequate supplies in the wholesale market.

In August, 1.77 million quintals of potatoes arrived in the countries wholesale markets, a nearly 20 per cent drop compared to last year’s 2.2 million quintals.