It’s tomatoes, not onions that are making people cry over the past couple of weeks. The reason: prices have hit the roof with a reduction in their arrival into the market.
Tomato is a most-used vegetable, like onions, and its skyrocketing prices had made it unaffordable.
Drought and extreme heat are stated to be the reasons for fall in production triggering the price rise.
Tomato is priced at Rs. 35 a kilo in the wholesale market while it is sold at Rs. 50-60 in the retail market. The hybrid variety costs Rs. 10 more.
Some wholesale vegetable merchants said the prices will go further as the supply has been declining.
Even the quality of the produce that is arriving to the markets is poor.
Villages in a 30-km radius of Mysuru, T Narsipur, parts of Nanjangud, Gundlupet, and Nagamangala are among the prominent tomato-growing areas.
Eshwar, a wholesale vegetable trader said, “There is a wide gap in the demand and supply and this triggered price rise. Drought and blazing summer heat are to be blamed for the drop in production.”
Mahadevaswamy, another vegetable dealer, said tomato prices are unlikely to stabilise for the next two months. The prices are on the higher side since over a month.
Santosh, who runs a mobile vegetable business, said consumers are bearing the brunt of the price rise. The quantum of purchase had been cut down by the consumers to deal with the price rise.
As tomato has minimal shelf life, the retailers are averse to procure the veggie in large quantity over its high price.
“We don’t want to lose and therefore procure tomato in small quantity until the prices stabilise,” said a representative of a grocery shop, which also sells vegetables and fruits.
Due to the high prices, its use in the kitchen had been cut down and tamarind paste, a substitute to tomato, is being used.
