Tomato prices stabilise in Karnataka

After a series of disastrous harvests there seems to be some hope for tomato farmers in Karnataka.

Tomato prices which crashed to less than Rs 100 per quintal, has stabilised to around Rs 110-130 per quintal for hybrid tomatoes and Rs 160-180 for the local variety, this week. From February to April, prices were around Rs 400-450 per quintal.

At the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yards in Bangarpet, Malur, Srinivaspura and Chintamani, which were the worst-affected areas, daily arrivals now average around 90-100 trucks a day compared to 150-200 trucks a day in the recent past.

Dhal Singh, assistant director, National Horticulture Board said that after the good rains, high temperature led to pre-maturing of the crop and hence high production.

Karnataka presently has 25,000-30,000 hectares under tomato cultivation, mainly concentrated around Kolar, Bangalore and Davanagere districts.

According to G K Vasanthkumar, Karnataka director of horticulture, farmers were lured by soaring prices of tomato during February and March and took to mass cultivation, resulting in the glut.

The Karnataka government intervened through the APMC by announcing support prices for quality tomatoes, resulting in diversion of surplus crops to other districts and to non-tomato growing states, said Syed Zameer Pasha, director of agricultural marketing and managing director, Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board.

During the crisis, APMC fixed a minimum support price of Rs 2 per kg for best-quality grade I tomato. Prices for grade II and III were fixed at Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.25 per kg respectively.

In addition to the glut, the tomato season is clashing with the mango season, which has been getting priority in processing.

"If we had capacity to process tomatoes, there would have been better support to farmers," said Vasanthkumar.