Lack of storage facility and delay in procurement have resulted in the prices of tomato taking a tumble. The prices have declined to Rs.500 per 30 kg box in the market. It was Rs.1,000 last week.
Market sources say that bumper tomato production in Tamil Nadu early this season had forced the farmers in the Udumalai area to abandon their produce by the roadside as it could not even meet their transportation cost. Now yields from faraway places such as Hosur are arriving in the main markets. When there is a good demand, the prices tend to skyrocket and it had touched Rs.2,400 recently.
Two varieties
Swapnesh, a retail vegetable seller, said that two varieties — nadan and apple tomato — are being sold. The nadan variety is locally available and the shelf life is too short. However, the market price for it is nearly half of the apple variety. The apple variety is in high demand in the market, he says.
Shift in crops
Tomato farmers of Vattavada and Kanthallur say that they shifted to other vegetables due to lack of timely procurement.
Unlike other vegetables such as cabbage, potato, beetroot, and carrot, the harvest of ripe tomatoes cannot be delayed even for a day.
“We have to harvest them even if there is no demand for it,” says Planisami of Vattavada. He added that it was one of the reasons for the farmers to abandon tomato cultivation.
He said that timely procurement and proper storage facility were the need of the hour. Even when prices were at its peak, it was the middlemen who benefited and not the farmers. Only a steady price will benefit the farmers.
