Prices of tomatoes in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Thursday shot up to up to Rs 70-80 owing to heavy reduction in supply from neighbouring Uttar Pardesh and Haryana after heavy rains damaged the tomato crop.
The high rates are expected to remain at this level or go up further for at least a month until fresh supply starts from southern states.
On Thursday, the wholesale rates of tomatoes at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) market at Gazipur were between Rs 30 and 40.
"In the first week of June, tomatoes in APMC market were sold for just Rs 8-10, which increased to Rs 14-18 last week. However, a slump in supply from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has forced rates to go up to Rs 30-40 in a week's time," Uday Vir Singh, Secretary of the Gazipur APMC market, told IANS.
Prices of other vegetables also have started going up with the onset of monsoon, Singh added.
Now, tomatoes are coming mainly from Himachal Pradesh.
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Chances of tomatoes getting spoilt increase in monsoon, which causes the prices in the retail market to almost double compared to the wholesale market, said traders at the APMC market.
"Shelf life of tomatoes is not more than 3-4 days and retailers do not have proper storage facilities. So they tend to sell tomatoes with big margin to ensure they do not incur losses even if some of the produce is not sold," said Jagdish Bajaj, a trader.
Bajaj said the prices were expected to remain high at least for a month.
"Once supply from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh starts, the prices will come down. However, it will still remain little costly due to considerable transportation charges," Bajaj said.
--IANS
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