The sudden drop in the price of tomato to ₹30 a kg in the open market on Monday, from ₹240 a kg last month, was welcomed by consumers in the Rayalaseema region and neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Compared to recent weeks, the quality of tomatoes, even though of third-grade variety, has improved as well, and this is the stock that the vendors procure from outside the wholesale markets at lower prices.
The first-grade tomatoes were sold at ₹38 a kg, and the second-grade variety was available at ₹29 per kg at the Madanapalle market on Monday. However, the stock was not huge, with only 261 tons of tomatoes arriving at the market on the day. A big chunk of these stocks would be sent to other cities across the country.
However, it is the tomato growers who began the khariff harvest that are disheartened by the drop in the prices. It is observed that between June and August first week, only 10% of the farmers could benefit from the high prices of tomatoes, while a majority of the farmers suffered crop damage due to adverse climatic conditions.
[ ₹100 = €1.10 ]
Source: https://www.thehindu.com