Rains, logistics disruptions, disease lead to tomato price hike
The recent increase in tomato prices has been attributed to a combination of factors such as crop seasonality, Kolar whitefly disease in Karnataka, rains in the northern part of the country, along with logistical disturbances.
In a written response in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, the federal minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, said daily average retail prices of tomatoes exceeded 150 rupees per kilogram in Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar during the week ending July 16. As on 18th July, the average retail price in Delhi decreased to 127.70 kg.
He said the immediate arrival of monsoon rains in the northern part of the country affected the tomato crop in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and logistics services were disrupted in isolated areas due to heavy rains.
He said that the government intervened by buying tomatoes from infiltrator In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra to dispose of them simultaneously in major cities at subsidized rates. As of July 18, a total of 391 tons of tomatoes have been purchased for continuous retail disposal in major consumption centers for the benefit of consumers.
Set to ease off soon
In a separate inquiry, the minister said that tomato prices are expected to decrease with the increase in the arrival of a new crop from Nashik, Naryangwan and Aurangabad belts in Maharashtra and also from Madhya Pradesh.
In order to check the current increase in the price of tomatoes and make them available to the consumers at affordable prices, the government has started purchasing tomatoes under the price stabilization fund and making them available at a highly subsidized price to the consumers.
The National Federation of Cooperative Consumers (NCCF) and the National Federation of Cooperative Agricultural Marketing (NAFED) consistently buy tomatoes from infiltrator In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and made available at affordable prices in major consumption centers Delhi – NCR, Bihar, Rajasthan, etc., after price support to consumers.
Tomatoes were initially sold at a retail price of 90 rupees per kg, which was reduced to 80 rupees from 16th July, and then reduced to 70 rupees from 20th July.
On the expected impact of the expected drop in tomato prices on farmers’ incomes and livelihoods, the minister said that the current increase in tomato prices may motivate farmers to grow more tomato crop, which is expected to stabilize prices in the coming months.
enter the market
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare implements a Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to protect farmers of perishable agricultural and horticultural commodities from tight selling in the event of a bumper crop during the peak access period when prices tend to fall below economic and cost-of-production levels.
Under the scheme, loss is borne due to price reduction between Union Government and State Governments on the basis of 50:50. He said that since the establishment of MIS until now, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has not received any proposal from the state governments to intervene in the market to address the problem of selling tomatoes.
Responding to a question, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said that there are 8,639 cold storages in the country with a capacity of 393.61 thousand tons so far. From 2022 to 23 to July 1 from 2023 to 2424, the country increased 188 cold stores with a capacity of 7.82 thousand tons.