Tomato price surges to Rs 100 again; likely to go up further

Coimbatore: Tomato prices are surging and have shot up to Rs 100 in many parts of the country in the wake of the severe short supply in market. On Monday, the price of tomato surged to Rs 100 per kilogram, whereas a kilo had only cost Rs 45 last week. 

Last year, the tomato prices had soared to Rs 120 once and this is the first time since then that the price reached Rs 100 yet again.

In the MGR market, the wholesale price of a box of 25 kilogram tomatoes was Rs 2,000 on Monday. That is, Rs 80 per kilogram. At retail stores, the prices will go up to Rs 100, said vendors. 

“Earlier, 10,000 boxes of tomatoes reached the market on a daily basis. However, the number later dropped to Rs 5,000 and on Monday it went down to Rs 1,500 boxes,” they added. 

As many as 2,000 boxes of tomatoes are required in Coimbatore city alone per day. The price hike is mainly due to severe shortage of supply from agricultural lands. 

A few months back, tomato farmers had even planned to quit cultivation due to the drop in tomato prices. There were farmers who even destroyed their crops due to increased losses. At that time, the tomato price was Rs 2 per kilogram.

At present, tomatoes are not cultivated in Coimbatore and the supply is brought from Krishnagiri, Hosur and Karnataka. The supply is likely to decrease further in coming days, vendors said.