Tomato prices have skyrocketed across markets in Odisha during the last 24 hours with the vegetable costing as high as Rs 100 per kg.
While its price was around Rs 40-50 per kg on Monday, it registered an exponential spike up to Rs 90-100 at the State’s main mandi of Cuttack’s Chhatra Bazaar on Tuesday morning.
The tomato price even reached Rs 100-120 per kg in Brahmapur and Baleswar. At Unit-I market of Bhubaneswar, it stood at around Rs 80 while the price touched Rs 100 at other markets in the capital city.
Consumers are bearing the brunt as they were seen buying tomatoes in much lesser quantity as compared to other days.
According to Chhatra Bazaar Traders’ Association secretary Debendra Sahu, the increase in price of tomatoes can be attributed to various factors affecting their production in Karnataka. The primary reason is the adverse impact of rainfall leading to a significant decrease in tomato yields. The entire country is heavily reliant on Karnataka as the sole source of tomatoes. The demand for tomatoes has exceeded the available supply. This situation is expected to persist for about 15 more days until the arrival of the second harvest.