Prices of some kitchen staples sank to eight-year low in March, shows official data

The Union government on Tuesday reported that the prices of essential commodities saw a significant decline in March 2022, compared to the same period over the previous years.

As per data available with the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, there was a 23 percent decline in the price of garlic compared to March 2021 due to a drop in compound and annual growth rate (CAGR), while the prices of onion (9 percent), coconut (6 percent), ginger (6 percent), apple (4 percent) and rice (3 percent) too dropped.

According to ministry data, prices of jowar and its products dropped nearly 2 percent last month compared to March 2021. Similarly, prices dropped for musk melon (1 percent), tur dal (1 percent), tamarind (10 percent) and coconut oil (14 percent).

The ministry said in a statement, “The drop in prices is due to the several proactive and pre-emptive measures of the Government of India to augment domestic availability and stabilise prices of essential food commodities.”

Similarly, compared to March 2019, in March 2022, there was a significant drop in the prices of rice (5 percent), cashew nut (7 percent), ginger (33 percent), tomato (4 percent), and coconut oil 3 percent).

Consequently, compared to March 2018, the data reported a significant drop in the prices of rice (3 percent), coconut oil (3.3 percent), banana (1 percent), coconut (3 percent), cashew nut (5 percent), and, ginger (12 percent) is reported.

As compared to March 2017, in March 2022, there was a drop in the prices of rice (2 percent), cashew nut (0.2 percent), ginger (nearly 14%), garlic (nearly 25 percent), split gram (12 percent), whole gram (nearly 7 percent), sugar (3 percent) and besan (10 percent) is reported.  

With respect to March 2016, commodities the prices of which had reduced were rice (3 percent), wheat (7 percent), garlic (17 percent), ginger (22 percent), tur dal (16 percent) and urad dal (9 percent).

Commodities for which prices had significantly reduced in March 2022 when compared to March 2015 are rice (6 percent), wheat/atta (8 percent), and ginger (26 percent).

In comparison to March 2014, the commodities for which prices had gone done in March 2022 are rice (10 percent), wheat/atta (13 percent), and ginger (36 percent).

The mininstry added in the statement, "Notably, amongst all the commodities considered, ginger had experienced the lowest price in March 2022 when compared Year-on-Year with respect to the month of March 2014, with an overall drop in CAGR of 6 percent."