Tomato prices up by 40 per cent in Koyambedu as supply dips

“From last month, there was a shortage in supply, where tomatoes sold for Rs 30 per kg, later it gradually increased. Unexpectedly, the tomatoes prices gone up by 40 percent, and sold for Rs 65 per kg, usually, the market receives 80 – 100 truckloads of tomatoes, due to heavy showers in the neighboring states Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where the crops were destroyed leads to further supply shortage, and now we are receiving less than 40 truckloads of the vegetable,” said Thiagarajan R, a wholesale tomato trader. 

Apart from tomatoes even onion supply has reduced by 20 percent, and the prices also increased to Rs 30 per kg. The traders said that they are receiving a mere 70 truckloads of onions per day against the usual supply of 100 truckloads. “They supply from Belhari and Nasik has come down, though the onion prices remained stable for Rs 15 per kg for the past few months, now it has doubled and expecting a spike in the following week,” said P Sukumaran, Treasurer, Koyambedu Wholesale Merchants’ Association. 

Even other vegetables has witnessed an increase by 5 percent, currently, carrots sold for Rs 50 per kg, potatoes Rs 20 per kg, beans Rs 40 – Rs 45 per kg, broad beans and brinjal for Rs 40 per kg, cabbage, cucumber and chow chow Rs 20 per kg, and beetroot Rs 20 – Rs 25 per kg. The traders said that till Dasara, the vegetable prices would be stable and only from next week depending on the supply the rates will be predicted. 

Meanwhile, the retail vendors in the city are selling tomatoes at Rs 65 – Rs 70 per kg, due to supply shortage and surge in diesel prices. They are worried that since all the vegetable prices increased, the sale has reduced.