Tomato prices crash dashing hopes of farmers

Barely a few days back, tomato prices, which had touched Rs 200 per kilogram at many places in the country, were hitting the headlines.

Many farmers had then switched to growing tomatoes in the hope of making a killing as they expected the prices to either rise further or at least around the same levels.

The hopes of the farmers were however dashed as the prices of one of the most popular kitchen items came crashing down in the past few days.

The tomatoes which were selling at Rs 200 a kilogram earlier were now available in the wholesale markets at Rs 10 per kilogram.

According to the experts the prices of tomatoes have crashed primarily owing to abundant availability of the fruit.

Officials from the Horticultural Department in Karnataka, which was a big producer of tomatoes, said that the arrival of a large quantity of tomatoes and fall in demand from other states had contributed to the crashing prices.

Reports said that this month alone, the Kolar APMC, Asia’s second-largest tomato market, received 4.21 lakh quintals of tomatoes. In the same period last year, the APMC received 2.31 lakh quintals and it received 3.82 lakh quintals in September 2021.

This has had a cascading effect on the prices: a box of 15 kg of tomatoes that was sold at Rs 2,300 in July and August is now being sold at Rs 45 to Rs 120.

‘’By harvesting tomatoes on my 10 acres of land, I am only going to add to my losses,” A farmer from Karnataka’s said. “I can harvest 20 to 28 boxes of tomatoes per day. The traders are quoting Rs 150 per box,’’ he added.

Given the market situation at present it can be safely assumed that the prices of tomato are not going to touch the earlier levels in the near future.