Tomato prices crash at markets

It is selling at Rs 4 to 5 a kg in the wake of high production

People buying vegetables at a Uzhavar Sandhai. File Photo

The price of tomatoes is unbelievably at a low price in uzhavar sandhais.

Ranging from as low as Rs four and five a kg, the vegetable is flooded in markets for the last two to three days. It is likely to continue for a few more days or even more, according to officials in the agri-business marketing (ABM), which manages the uzhavar sandhais in Madurai.

Not only tomatoes, but drumstick, green chillies, ladies-finger and a few other commodities are selling at a relatively low price in the recent past, said Deputy Director (ABM) C. Murthy here on Tuesday. The reason is mainly due to high production of tomatoes by the farmers and secondly, with no festivals around, the arrival in sandhais is at a very high level.

Officials at uzhavar sandhais in B.B. Kulam and Anna Nagar in the city said that the tomatoes (country variety) were selling at Rs 7 and Rs 8, while Andhra variety was available from Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kg. Two days ago at the wholesale market in Oddanchatram, Dindigul district, the tomatoes were in large stocks that many farmers even fixed Re 1 as their sale price per kg.

The drum stick price was anywhere between Rs.10 and Rs.15 per kg (depending on the size), brinjal sold at Rs.16 and Rs.18, ladies-finger at Rs.12 and Rs.14. The price of chillies and carrot too was available at a new low this season. The officials said that tomatoes sold at as high as Rs.60 per kg many years ago, but after the uzhavar sandhais were established, the vegetable touched up to Rs.35 to 40 per kg. The present price of Rs five per kg was unbelievably low priced.

Consumers happy

While consumers purchased more tomatoes in the uzhavar sandhais as the price was low than other vegetables, the farmers’ were unhappy. Marimuthu from Alanganallur said that last month, the price was above Rs.15 per kg. The government, though giving us good support, could consider storing tomatoes in cold storage containers on such occasions. The supply is more than the demand. When the situation improves, the farmers will stand to gain, he noted.

However, officials said that with no guarantee on uninterrupted power supply, the suggestion of cold storage cannot be given a thought in such a volatile situation. Instead, the farmers can examine the possibility of preparing alternative food products from tomatoes through women SHGs and benefit, they noted.