Vegetable sales have fallen all over the country due to 500 and 1000 rupees notes ban. (AFP)
Raj, a vegetable vendor in a wholesale produce market in Delhi, ducks away from the camera while accepting a banned 500 rupee note from his customer.
He is glad he earned Rs 120 in his first sale today but is equally upset about parting with his 100 rupee notes in return.
"My lettuce and mushrooms have begun to rot. I have no other option but to sell them somehow to salvage the cost," he said.
Vendors with carts who buy vegetables from the Okhla market say they are running low on cash. Naushad, a tomato trader, said sales have plummeted by 70 per cent.
Sonu sits next to a heap of potatoes that have now begun rotting because of poor sales. He has already slashed prices by 30 per cent but yet his financial prospects look bleak.
At the Okhla mandi, traders and farmers say they are unsure how long they can remain patient.
Fruits and vegetable travel through this market in south Delhi before reaching stores where many shop simply by swiping their cards. But for traders here, it's the cash that counts.
More than a week after 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were declared illegal, trade has been severely hit in this wholesale market like many others around the country.
The sudden announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week aimed at curbing untaxed money and corruption has been widely praised but it has also spelt trouble for people in an economy where more than 80 per cent transactions are in cash.
Prices of farm produce have fallen, farmers across the country have complained of difficulty in buying seeds and fertiliser, and citizens have been queuing up for hours in front of banks, post offices and ATMs to deposit old notes and collect new ones.