It is a vegetable that is usually kind on the customer’s pocket. But these days, the price of a kilogram of tomato in most retail markets here hovers around Rs.80. It usually costs less than Rs.25. In fact, the vegetable could be bought for as low as Rs.17 barely two months ago.
B. Chandran, a veteran vendor at Connemara Market, Palayam, is not surprised at the quadrupling of rates this monsoon, stating matter-of-factly that poor production in Tamil Nadu is bound to have such repercussions on the Kerala market. “Tomorrow we may get a better load. Then the price will come down again. Maybe it will dip to Rs.50 mark even but for it to return to the Rs.20, we’ll have to wait for a couple of months,” he said.
Customers at his store wore resigned expressions as they filled their bags with necessities they cannot compromise on. Regina, from Vattiyurkavu, a regular at Chandran’s store, was persistent in her demand for a discount. Chandran relented finally. “I have to haggle. I have three daughters to feed. My budget is already strained,” she said.
However, Chandran is optimistic since prices of other vegetables have “not spiralled out of control like last year.” Ginger, for instance, costs Rs.100 a kilogram now, as against the Rs.180 in July last year. Onions remain around Rs.40, half of what it was a few months ago. The prices of green chilli and beans too have been fluctuating with the former touching Rs.70 in retail markets on Tuesday, compared to Rs.50 a few weeks ago.
