New Delhi: The red-hot prices of tomatoes not only set the kitchen on fire last year but also gave rise to fantastic events such as a couple hijacking a truck loaded with 2,500 kg of tomatoes to extort money from a farmer in Karnataka. The prices of the popular vegetable kept grabbing headlines for weeks when it touched Rs 250 per kg. The rise in tomato prices this year has rekindled the memories of 2023.
Tomato prices raising the heat
According to reports, tomato prices have risen by more than 100 per cent in just about 3 weeks in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as intense heat waves swept the region impacting production.
On an average, the price has reached Rs 40-50 per kg in the wholesale markets in these states. The highest level of Rs 60 per kg was recorded in Karnataka. The situation could turn worse in the days ahead – July is usually the month when tomatoes undergo a shortage in supply. The shortage persists till October and prices remain high till then. However, last year the rise was abnormal due to extreme weather conditions.
The way prices are moving this year too can be seen in the government portal on agriculture prices agmarknet. It shows that the maximum price of tomatoes in Belgaum was Rs 2,300 per quintal on June 1, 2024. On June 15, it touched Rs 5,000 – a rise of 117 per cent. In Kanakapura market, the prices rose from levels of Rs 2,000-3,500 per quintal to on June 1 to Rs 4,000-6,000 per quintal on June 15.
On June 16, the retail price of tomatoes rose to Rs 80 per kg in Bengaluru. Sachin Patil, an official from the Pimpalgaon APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee) in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, said, “This year the temperatures were 42-44 degree Celsius for a prolonged period which damaged flowering and fruiting, resulting in lower production.”
“This year, heat has affected the tomato output. The arrival of the new crop that would be harvested around the Bangalore region would decide the course of tomato prices in the coming days,” the ET reported, citing tomato trader Ganesh Fulsundar from the Narayangaon tomato market near Pune.
Overall food inflation has remained stubbornly high this year too and the RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has constantly been harping on the impact of extreme weather on food inflation due to supply constraints. In May, while retail inflation was at 4.75 per cent, a 12-month low, teh consumer food price index stood at 8.69 per cent.
RBI’s concerns regarding tomato prices
The rise in tomato prices can put kitchen budgets under stress and cause misery to the average Indian consumer. Last year, it contributed substantially to food inflation which scalded the average Indian household in 2023. The concern is, this year could bring back the same horror.
In 2023, tomato prices also scared the Reserve Bank of India. “Spillovers from tomato price spikes to prices of other commodities and unhinging inflation expectations remain a major concern. Increasing amplitudes of price spells over the years calls for improving the supply chains to contain overall inflation volatility,” the central bank said in its monthly bulletin in July.
According to government data, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh usually account for about 36 per cent of the country’s tomato production.
Tomato price are on the rise again, bringing back memories of how the red fruit’s prices singed the pocket of the average Indian household in 2023, thanks to extreme weather conditions. Business Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
