Fire in Tomato’s price

28/06/2023

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Fire in Tomato’s price

Tomato prices have gone up by nearly two times all over in the country in the past one week. The price spike follows rain-induced supply disruptions in key tomato producing states.

The best quality tomatoes at Safal store have been retailed at Rs 78 per kg and some of the varieties are available at lower rates as well. There are more than 300 Safal stores in Delhi-NCR market.

Government’s reaction:

Government has informed public that the sudden spike in prices of tomato is a temporary seasonal phenomenon and rates will cool down soon.

According to government’s information tomato is a highly perishable commodity and its transportation has affected recently due to sudden rains in areas.

Government has stated that there season based prices effect in tomato. If we check the data on tomato prices of the last five years, the rates for this time reach at highest level every year.

The prices will soften as the supply to Delhi from Himachal Pradesh will start coming in the next 10 days.

According to the data received by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the average price of tomato on an all-India basis is Rs 46 per kg on June 27. The modal price is Rs 50 per kg while the maximum price is Rs 122 per kg.

Prices of tomato in metros:

The retail price of tomato has been recorded at Rs. 60 per kg in Delhi and Rs. 42 per kg in Mumbai.
The metro city Kolkata has registered the price of tomato at Rs 75 per kg while Chennai at Rs 67 per kg.
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh has recorded the maximum price of Rs 122 per kg and Bellary, Karnataka also registered higher prices of tomato.
In the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), tomato prices at Mother Dairy’s Safal stores have reached to double to nearly Rs 80 per kg.

Reasons behind sudden spike in prices:

The tomato crop is currently going through a seasonal transition with its monsoon season. Rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is affecting the most to the crop with much restriction to its supply.
The situation of imbalance in the supply-demand factor spikes the prices of tomato suddenly.
As per the government data, tomato production is anticipated to descend slightly to 20.62 million tonnes in 2022-23 from 20.69 million tonnes in the previous year.

Some facts about tomato:

Tomato is a fruit not a vegetable but it is used as vegetable across the world.
China is the largest producer of tomato in the world.
India is at second position in production of tomato.
Harvesting time of tomato fruit is late summer while it is planted in early spring.