Despite having Asia’s largest tomato market yard at Madanapalle, the households of the Rayalaseema region are in a fix owing to to a sudden spurt in the price of tomato at ₹60 a kg on Saturday, from ₹10 last month, at the vegetable markets.
Tomato growers, traders, and consumers admit that they are stunned at the overnight price hike, unlike the steady rise during demand seasons.
The core belt of tomato cultivation spreads over Madanapalle, Gurramkonda, Valmikipuram, Kalikiri, Kalakada, and Kurabalakota mandals of Annamayya, and Palamaner and Punganur mandals of Chittoor districts.
The agriculture market at Madanapalle is considered the heart of the tomato trade. Additionally, half a dozen mandals in the surroundings contribute their produce to support the domestic market. From time to time, the markets at Chintamani, Kolar, and Srinivasapuram in the neighboring Karnataka keep tilting the balance of trade dynamics in the region, even impacting the exports.
Arrivals dip
The arrival of tomato stocks to the Madanapalle market plummeted to less than 80 tonnes a day till March this year, against 800 to 1,000 tonnes before the COVID pandemic. The general perception remained that the arrivals would be unstoppably high from June onwards. However, the daily trade is now confined to below 300 tonnes. The record summer heat of April has further contributed to the slump in yield.
The prime reason for this scenario is the decrease in the number of active farmers and plummeting acreage. The field level officials of agriculture and horticulture departments say that during the last two years under the COVID shadow, close to 80% of the farmers stayed away from the fields.
The farmers deplore that they had suffered the worst in these two and half years, since December 2019.
“Apart from the COVID pandemic, the unprecedented rains of 2021 had a devastating effect on our prospects. With transportation coming to a standstill, we were in horror, left the crop to cattle or disposed of to markets with the hope of getting back part of our investment,” said Manjunath Kokkanti, a tomato grower based at Valmikipuram mandal headquarters.
Though the seedling process commences from March onwards at different levels, this year a big chunk of the growers are yet to make up their minds — whether to resume their field operations or wait till 2023.
“The threat of the fourth wave of COVID is lurking. Instead of taking a chance and losing the battle, we can better wait for one more year. As of now, only a small number of our neighbors are engaged in field activity,” said Nagaraju, another farmer in the neighboring Gurramkonda mandal. But, farmers in Palamaner and Punganur mandals to some extent are bolder enough, hoping to reap benefits by depending on the potential of Bengaluru households.
Meanwhile, Assistant Director (Marketing–Chittoor) K. Indumathi told The Hindu that with the price of tomato remaining at ₹60 a kg in wholesale vegetable markets, proposals had been submitted to the State government, seeking permission to procure the stocks and arrange for subsidised sales through special outlets at Rythu Bazaars. “Once the price crosses the ₹70-mark, we hope to intervene in the Rythu Bazaars for public convenience,” the official said.
