The prices of tomato, which has been spiralling up, has now breached the ₹150 per kg mark in retail shops in Bengaluru. Production was anyway expected to be lower as some farmers had opted out of cultivating tomatoes citing poor earnings. Adding to that, about 50% of production in Karnataka has gone down the drain due to leaf curl viral disease.
In a retail shop at J.P. Nagar, a customer settled for just two pieces of tomatoes when the vendor quoted ₹163 per kg. The vendor claimed to have bought at ₹145 per kg from a nearby wholesale market.
The prices in HMT Layout and Yeshwantpur are hovering between ₹130 and ₹155 per kg depending on what price the vendor purchased the fruit.
Abdul Khader, a vendor in Jayanagar 9th block, said that while some customers refuse to purchase the fruit after hearing the price, a few are opting to buy 3 to 4 pieces.
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In the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard in Bengaluru, a box of tomatoes (10-13 kg) was being sold in the range of ₹1,200-1,500 on July 5, and experts do not expect the prices to come down soon. Prices may start coming down only after two months when the fresh harvest hits the market.
Chikkegowda, secretary, Bengaluru APMC Association, said, “About three months ago, prices of tomatoes were as low as ₹40 per box, which discouraged farmers. On the other hand, leaf curl virus disease halved the production of an already poorly cultivated horticulture crop. In Kolar, the APMC received 3.2 lakh quintals of tomatoes as against 5 lakh in June 2022. This shows the gap in production.”
Prakash Kammardi, former chairperson, Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission, told The Hindu that lack of adequate attention towards price fluctuation is a key reason for the sudden rise in the prices of the commodity. The Horticulture Department does not have proper data on area of cultivation in Karnataka, apart from Kolar district. In this advanced technological age, it is not at all difficult to gather such data, fix cultivation and price issues, he argued.
The fall in production was predominantly due to climate and disease. The pattern of tomato cultivation is erratic with farmers showing or losing interest based on the market price. For instance, now with high prices prevailing in the market, more farmers will go for cultivation of tomatoes, which will bring down prices drastically, he pointed out.
“When the government learnt about a possible fall in production, the Horticulture Department should have encouraged farmers in other parts of Karnataka to grow the crop. This would have boosted production, stabilising the price. Tomato is consumed throughout the year. The government’s responsibility is to ensure intact distribution to match demand. Market intelligence is the need of the hour to address this problem. In 2018, the Union Government constituted a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Market Intelligence (Supply Management, Demand and Price Forecasting). The committee met four times, but after Covid, nothing happened,” said Mr Kammardi, who is a member of the committee.
