The soaring mercury in Kolar and neighbourhood has pushed up the price of beans in a fortnight from Rs 120 to Rs 200 per kg and from Rs 80 to Rs 170 per kg in the retail and wholesale markets, respectively. Vijayalakshmi, secretary, APMC Kolar, said the increase in temperature has resulted in many beans plants withering away in farms in the neighbouring towns, reducing daily supply from 40-45 quintals to 25 quintals. “People are preferring fresh and green vegetables and the demand has spiked over the last fortnight or so. Besides, many religious functions lined up during the period too pushed up the demand,” she said. She added the supply will further be affected as farmers are hesitant to grow beans. Narayanaswamy, a trader at the Kolar vegetable market, said even those who are growing beans are preferring to grow the ‘farm’ variety and not the local variety. Vinay, assistant director of horticulture department, said that many farmers have stopped growing beans as it consumes a lot of water. With rain remaining elusive farmers are avoiding growing beans, he added. Charithra N, a homemaker from Kolar, was taken aback by the price of beans in the retail market on Monday. She said the price of most other vegetables were around Rs 40-50 per kg and she ended up buying only half a kg of beans due to its high cost in retail market.