Tomato prices are skyrocketing across the country. Tomato prices in many parts of the country briefly eased after the government started selling tomatoes at subsidized rates in July. However, for the last few days, the prices of tomatoes have started increasing once again. Where the average price of one kg tomato was Rs 121.72 a week ago, it has now increased to Rs 140.

People are upset due to the increase in the prices of tomatoes. Many people have also stopped using tomato in vegetables. Meanwhile, we need to know what are the prices of tomatoes in different parts of the country? Why are prices rising now? Will there be relief ahead and what is the government doing to deal with the situation?

Retail prices of tomatoes have increased across the country. Prices rose from Rs 40 per kg in June to an average of Rs 100 per kg in the first week of July. According to the latest data of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the average price of tomato on August 3 was Rs 140.1/kg, the maximum price was Rs 257/kg, the minimum price was Rs 40/kg and the modal price was Rs 120/kg.

According to the data of the same department, on July 27, the average price of tomato was Rs 121.72/kg, the maximum price was Rs 193/kg, the minimum price was Rs 42/kg and the modal price was Rs 120/kg.

According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, the price of tomato is Rs 200/kg or more in at least 35 cities in the country. The highest price of tomato is Rs.257/kg in Bulandshahr. After this, the price is Rs.248 in Gautam Budh Nagar, Rs.247 in Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh), Rs.240 in Bharatpur and Rs.237/kg in Dharamshala.

As per the data, there are at least 59 cities across the country where tomato prices are below Rs 100 per kg. The lowest price is in Dharmanagar. Here one kilo of tomato is available for 40 rupees. After this, the price is 50 in Ashoknagar, 52 in Longtlai, 55 in Golaghat and 57 rupees / kg in Karimganj.

There has been a significant drop in tomato supplies from Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra as they are running out of their own stocks. After the government started procuring tomatoes in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and shipping them to cities in north India, procurement has picked up. They started buying them again after the government sold them at ??90 per kg and then at ??70 per kg for people in Delhi. However, the supply could not match the demand.

On the other hand, about 80 percent of the tomato crop in Himachal Pradesh was destroyed by the floods. In Bengaluru, 40-50 percent of tomatoes were damaged due to bad weather. At present, the daily supply of tomatoes in Azadpur mandi is around 10-12 tonnes against the normal 18-22 tonnes. Bengaluru and Himachal Pradesh meet the demand from North India during June-August, before the arrival of tomatoes starts from Maharashtra.

According to a Mother Dairy spokesperson, “Unseasonal rains have affected the supply of tomatoes across the country for the last two months. Recently, there has been a huge decline in the arrival of tomatoes in Azadpur, the main market of Delhi. Due to short supply, wholesale prices have increased sharply, which in turn has affected retail prices as well.

The prices are expected to ease with the arrival of fresh tomatoes from Maharashtra in late August. According to Ashok Kaushik, president of the Azadpur Tomato Association, "The arrival of tomatoes has reduced in the last few days as heavy rains have damaged the crop in the growing areas." He said that Azadpur mandi saw only 15 percent tomato arrival on Wednesday as only six small trucks arrived here from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Kaushik said that the supply situation is expected to improve in the next 10 days.

To provide relief to the consumers from the high prices of tomatoes, the National Consumer Cooperative Federation (NCCF) is selling tomatoes on behalf of the Central Government. Apart from this, NAFED is providing staple kitchen items to the people in Bihar and other states at subsidized prices.

The NCCF started selling tomatoes on July 14 at a subsidized rate of Rs 90 per kg. After this, the price of tomato was reduced to Rs 70 per kg. NCCF Managing Director Anees Joseph Chandra said that till July 28, we have sold about 560 tonnes of tomatoes in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. NCCF is delivering tomatoes to the people in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) through mobile vans, select retail outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). In the other two states, it is being sold through mobile vans.