Tomato arrivals from the northern region will commence from December, and this may add to the current availability and lower the prices in retail markets, the government said in a statement.

Arrivals of tomato in November so far were about 1.96 million tonnes (mt) as against 2.13 mt in the corresponding period last year. The Agriculture Ministry has estimated this year’s Kharif production at 6.95 mt against 7.01 mt last year.

The all-India average retail price of tomatoes has been rising since September due to unseasonal rains in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, which led to crop damage and delay in arrival from these Sates, the government said. Delayed arrivals from the north Indian States was followed by heavy rains in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka which disrupted the supply and also resulted in crop damage.

As on November 25, the all-India average price of tomato was ₹67/kg, which is 63 per cent higher than last year.

“Tomato price is highly volatile as slight disruptions in supply chain or damage due to heavy rains results in spurt in prices. Conversely, bulk arrival and logistics problems have the potential of creating a situation of glut in the market and resultant dip in retail prices,” the official statement said.

Drop in onion prices

Onion prices that rose during October have substantially subsided, and the level is below that of the retail prices in 2019 and 2020. The all-India average retail price of onion as of November 25 was ₹39/kg, which is 32 per cent lower than that of the last year, the consumer affairs ministry said. Onion buffer of 2.08 lakh tonnes built-in current year under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) has been released in the market in tranches.

Further, the Centre has offered States to lift onion at ₹21/kg ex-storage locations, and only Nagaland and Andhra Pradesh have shown interest. The Kharif and late Kharif production are estimated at 6.9 mt.

comment COMMENT NOW