After onions and red gram, it is now the turn of tomato prices to go through the roof this season. In a span of one month, the price of the vegetable has soared from Rs.16 per kg to Rs.45 in Vijayawada, depending on quality and class of outlet. In the supermarkets, it is being offered for Rs.45-50 per kg, while pushcart vendors are extracting Rs. 48. In Kurnool, the retail price is veering between Rs.50 and Rs.60 a kg in the open market.
“As it is, we are burdened by the rising prices of red gram. Now tomatoes are being sold at Rs.45 a kg and at this rate, it is tough to manage the monthly budget, forget about festival celebrations,” said Mr Narayana Rao, a buyer at the Vijayawada Rythu Bazar.
Agriculture officials said the escalating prices are due to slacks arrival of stocks in the markets. On an average, the PWD Rythu Bazar in Vijayawada gets 400-600 trays each containing 25 kg everyday. On Saturday, just about 100 trays arrived.
A majority of the stocks arrive from the tomato hub Madanapalle, which is normally famous for distress disposals by farmers during frequent gluts. This time, however, the harvest has been poor, and the arrivals have declined. The next pick is not due for arrival until next month. Prices will be high until then, and will certainly drop by Rs 5-10 and remain stable until next February, explained a Rythu Bazaar official.
The poor crop currently is mainly due to deficient rainfall in tomato country, mainly Madanapalle, according to the assistant director of marketing in Kurnool, Mr Satyanarayana Chowdary.
In the Kurnool Rythu Bazar, a major tomato market, growers have been bringing in only about 70 quintals in the last three days, as against 120-160 quintals a day earlier, the estate officer Hanumantha Rao said. Curiously enough, tomato prices may have something to do with onion prices. When onion prices began to soar a few months ago, farmers in some growing districts switched to the bulb hoping to make a killing. As a result, acreage dropped and production dropped.
The tomato market has also experienced a change in some procurement practices. Of late, private agents have been going to the farmers’ fields to buy at the gate. Farmers were offered no more than the price they would get at the Ryhu Bazaars, but that was a welcome proposition to them, as they would save on transportation costs. As a result, the market has passed further into the hands of middlemen, officials said.
(With inputs from V. Rakesh Reddy in Anantapur and M.V. Subramanyam in Kurnool)
