Incessant downpour further pushes up tomato prices in Bengaluru

BENGALURU/KOLAR: Among the streetside vegetable vendors of Bengaluru, there was a fresh buzz on Wednesday. Pushcarts that were selling tomatoes for Rs 110 or Rs 120 per kg last weekend are now selling them for Rs 140.
Vendors and agricultural marketing authorities said incessant rain is to blame for the price spike. Harvesting, they say, has become difficult amid downpour, lowering supply against an already-high demand."Procurement prices of tomatoes increased sharply on Wednesday at Kolar APMC, thanks to short supply linked to adverse weather conditions," said CR Harish of CMR tomato mandi.
Fifteen-kg tomato boxes that were selling for Rs 2,000 each had become a wee bit cheaper last week and were available for Rs 1,400-1,900. However, good-quality tomatoes were sold on Wednesday for Rs 2,100 for a 15-kg box, said Harish, who conducts tomato auctions at his mandi in the APMC premises in Kolar.
At Bengaluru APMC, the rate of per kg tomato was Rs 84-92 and the produce was sourced from Bengaluru Rural. "Tomatoes coming from Kolar are costlier. The district is receiving a lot of rainfall, causing the price rise. Bengaluru Urban gets its supply from Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, Kunigal, Ramanagara, Anekal and Kanakapura. All these places are getting non-stop rain, making harvesting difficult and delaying transportation," Rajanna, secretary of Binnypet APMC, said.
A source at the department of agricultural marketing said the Centre had ordered for tomatoes to be purchased at market rates in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and sent to cities in north India to manage the demand. These tomatoes are being sold at 30% discount by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation and National Cooperative Consumers Federation, which have bought them from states in the south. "But no decision has been taken so far to control price fluctuation in Karnataka," the source added.
Vijayalakshmi, secretary of Kolar APMC, said there was a slight shortfall in the arrivals on Wednesday as 57,200 boxes of 15kg each arrived at the yard as against the normal 65,000 boxes per day. Trader Srinath said continuous wet weather is likely to further affect the crop and stock may fall in the next couple of days, pushing prices to Rs 2,500 per 15kg.