Tomatoes face unseasonal glut

BANGALORE: Tomato pickles and ketchup are no more holding on to its taste in the local market. The unexpected glut in tomato produce has quashed demand for the red vegetable.
Unseasonal rains and sudden surplus cultivation of tomato in May-June has pushed retail tomato prices to Rs 4-5 per kg from what was Rs 14 a fortnight ago. The soaring prices from February to March lured farmers to produce more tomatoes this season, resulting in the glut, say experts.
Given that the glut would hit the market hard for a while, APMC has stepped in to offer a minimum support price of Rs 2 per kg for best-quality Grade 1 tomato.The Grade II and III tomatoes will get prices of Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.25 per kg, managing director of Karnataka APMC Syed Zameer Pasha said.
Certain Grade II and III varieties are being sold for prices as low as Re 1 to Rs 3 per kg. Local traders are buying the vegetable from farmers for a low Rs 25-30 per 10-kg bag.
Several first-time cultivators concede: "Tomato is harvested every three months. But this time round, many of us bought plants and harvested the vegetable in just two months. The inter-state demand slumped because even Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had their own supplies."
Horticulture director Vasanth Kumar retorts, "Farmers should not get carried away when the market is going good for them. They should not stick to cultivating just one vegetable, but go for variety."