Upward trend of tomato prices to leave residents in a pickle

From seeing a sudden post-monsoon spike in August to being dirt cheap at ₹20 per kilo on September 1, the highly volatile prices of the indispensable Indian ingredient tomato have started rising once again, doubling to ₹40 as compared to the last Sunday.

A commodity that enjoys the unique position of being both a fruit and a vegetable, the humble tomato has remained inconsistently priced these monsoons, mainly because the crop is easily affected by rain.

Officials of the Punjab Mandi Board said that prices have increased because the demand is going down. “As local tomatoes were damaged, we were getting tomatoes from Himachal Pradesh. But since the hill state stopped growing tomatoes, and due to the availability of only local variety in the market, the price has gone up.”

Officials said any sudden spells of heavy rain could cause prices to rise even further. The weather, however, has remained dry and humid, due to which prices of other vegetables have increased. “Coriander which is easily spoilt in the sun now costs ₹40, while high temperatures favour the cultivation of lady finger, the price of which has come down.”

Farmers are warning of an imminent rise in prices due to high temperatures forecast in the coming days. Parhlad Singh Bhamia, a farmer from Bhamia Kalan village near Khamano in Fatehgarh Sahib district, said that after heavy rainfall in August, the days were excessively hot and even nights remained warm, due to which winter crops were spoilt and farmers lost thousands of rupees.

Green chillies that were priced at ₹30 in the last week of August, continue to be priced at ₹60 now because the crop was spoilt in August’s rains, and the new crop is yet to come into the market.

Onions that have been brought to the city from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh also remain priced at ₹40, as transporting them remains an issue.

With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting light rain in the coming week, officials have warned that if temperatures remain too high, price of leafy vegetables, including cabbage, will remain above normal.

After rains in July and tomato prices rising to ₹70/kg, highest since 2010 for the month of July, the prices had stabilised in August. In the third week, however, the prices again went up to ₹50/kg because rains prevented people from attending mandis and led to stagnation of produce, while the new crop was destroyed by rain.

Along with tomatoes, the price of green chillies had also taken a hit. Even though towards the end of August to the beginning of September, the prices remained low, the rise in prices now is only going to spiral with the unpredictable weather.

Earlier this month, the price of onions that had never gone above ₹25 per kg in 2 years, touched ₹40 and has remained there, due to rains in the south. They are likely to go up.

MARKET WATCH

A comparison of prices at the apni mandi of Sector 34 from September 8 to September 15:

Tomato went from ₹35 to ₹40

Green chillies went from ₹70 to ₹60

Onion stayed consistent at ₹40

Capsicum went from ₹45 to ₹50

Coriander went from ₹120 to ₹160

Lady finger went from ₹35 to ₹30

(*All prices are in ₹/ kg)