Tomato prices in wholesale markets in most producing states have crashed to as low as Rs 4 per kg amid a supply glut.  In fact, the wholesale prices of tomato in 23 growing centres out of 31 monitored by the government were down by 50 per cent from the year-ago period or below three-year seasonal average.

The daily price monitoring data of the ministry of consumer affairs showed the average price of tomato was Rs 30 a kg on Sunday. The maximum price was quoted Rs 58 in Port Blair while the minimum price Rs 10 a kg in Davanagere.

In Delhi’s Azadpur mandi, wholesale price of tomato declined to 24 per kg on August 28 from Rs 36 per kg in the year-ago period. Wholesale price of tomato in Mumbai declined to Rs 12 per kg from Rs 30 per kg, while that of in Bengaluru to Rs 8 per kg from Rs 30 per kg in the said period. Recently, farmers in Nashik and Aurangabad on Friday dumped truckloads of tomatoes on the road after prices crashed to Rs 2-3 per kg in the wholesale market.

Currently, tomato crop of the early kharif (summer) season of the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) is being harvested. According to the data, the wholesale price of tomato in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh -- the countrys’ top tomato growing state -- fell to Rs 8 per kg on August 28 of this year from Rs 11 per kg in the year-ago period.  Similarly, the wholesale price of tomato at Jalgoan in Maharashtra -- the country’s sixth largest tomato growing state -- fell by 80 per cent to Rs 4 per kg on August 28 from Rs 21 per kg in the year-ago period.

Tomato prices at Aurangabad declined to Rs 4.50 per kg from Rs 9.50 per kg, while that of Solapur to Rs 5 per kg from 15 per kg and in Kolhapur to Rs 6.50 per kg from 25 per kg in the year-ago period.   According to the government data, wholesale price of tomato at Kolar in Karnataka -- the country’s fourth largest tomato growing state -- dropped to 5.30 per kg on August 28 from Rs 18.70 per kg in the year-ago period, while that of in Chikkaballapura fell to Rs 7.30 per kg from 18.50 per kg in the said period.

In Uttar Pradesh too, prices fell in the range of Rs 8-20 per kg on August 28 this year from Rs 14-28 per kg in the year-ago period.

In West Bengal, wholesale price of tomato declined to Rs 25-32 per kg in different growing areas from Rs 34-65 per kg in the said period, the data showed. In consuming markets too, wholesale prices of tomatoes showed a decline.

Tomato crop is ready for harvest in about 2-3 months after planting. India’s tomato production rose by 2.20 per cent to 21 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year (July-June) as against 20.55 million tonnes in the year-ago period, as per the Agriculture Ministry’s second advance estimate.