Tomato price shoots up to Rs 170, further spike likely

CHENNAI: Tomato prices continue to soar in the city and looks like there has been no respite from it anytime soon due to intense rain in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which led to an interruption in the supplies. The wholesale prices range from Rs 110 to Rs 120 per kg and the retail shops sold for Rs 160 to Rs 170 per kg on Wednesday.

“The supply of tomatoes reduced from 800 tons to 250 tons to Koyambedu wholesale market, it was purchased for Rs 100 from the neighboring states. With intense rainfall witnessed in AP and Karnataka for the past few days, it has damaged the crops and impacted the production of tomatoes again. Due to the supply shortage, the tomatoes are sold for Rs 110 to 120 per kg, and it is likely to increase further across the state from Thursday,” said M Thiagarajan, president of Koyambedu Wholesale Tomato Traders Association.

The consumption among the public has drastically decreased for the last two months as tomato prices surged and reached Rs 170 per kg at the retail shops. Vendors are worried that they are unable to make much profit recently and the rain in the city has worsened the situation because people stay indoors.

“The customers purchase in limited quantity. Earlier they used to buy one kg whereas now they afford to purchase only for Rs 30. If the situation continues it is scary how we are going to survive without any proper sale. However, there has been no wastage since we purchase fewer quantities, and ensured sale for the day,” said K Mohan, a retail vendor at Kodambakkam.

After the continued surge in the prices, the state government started to sell tomatoes for Rs 60 per kg at both PDS and farm fresh outlets. Even though only a few shops received the supply of tomatoes, the customers are not satisfied with the quality.

“Since they are selling for lower prices compared to the market rate the tomatoes are small and most of it are not good quality. So, it is better to purchase from the retail market even though it has been sold for Rs 150 per kg. The government should purchase and sell quality products for the public and should not be an eye-wash,” said M Shanthini, a resident of Koyambedu.