These ration shops in Coimbatore sell tomatoes at Rs 60 per kg

COIMBATORE: The cooperative department on Wednesday started distributing tomatoes to the public through ration shops, based on the instruction from the Tamil Nadu government.

As many as 20 ration shops in Coimbatore have been shortlisted to begin the direct sales as the price of tomatoes has crossed Rs 120 per kg in retail shops.

Two shops in Ramanathapuram, two shops in Ondipudur, two in Saibaba Colony, two in Kuniyamuthur, one in Periyanaickenpalayam, two in PN Pudur, one each in Neelikonampalayam and Singanallur, two in Kavundampalayam, one each in Edayarpalayam, KRG Main Road, Selvapuram, Velandipalayam and Vellakinar were the places chosen for the sales, a cooperatives department official said.

He said 500kg of tomatoes procured from farmers in the Thondamuthur area were sold out through PDS outlets on Wednesday. Tomatoes were sold at Rs 60 per kg. They were sold out within minutes of opening the shops.

One kg was the maximum quantity sold to one card holder so that maximum number of persons could be benefited.

The official said although they wanted to procure more tomatoes, they could not find them. The 500 kg of tomatoes were procured from individual farmers who mostly had marginal landholding.

The sales through ration shops will take place till the price comes down or till further instruction is received from the state government.

Direct sales of tomatoes have also been carried out by the horticulture department.

Deputy director of horticulture Buvaneshwari said tomatoes were being sold at farmers markets in the district. Around 1,300 kg of tomatoes were sold out till Tuesday. “While tomatoes are being sold at Rs 120/ kg, we sell them at Rs 70-80 kg. We procure tomatoes directly from farmers in various parts of the district,” she said.


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