The prices of tomato, currently being sold at more than Rs 50 a kg in the retail market here, are expected to fall in the next 10 days with fresh arrivals from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttaranchal.
"There is almost 70 per cent shortage in supply of tomato in Azadpur mandi (Asia's biggest vegetables market) due to which prices have skyrocketed," Vegetables Traders Association president Surendra Kohli said.
In the wholesale market, the prices of tomato jumped twofold to about Rs 30 a kg in the last one month, mainly due to floods in Punjab and Haryana, from where they arrive at this point of time.
Kohli pointed out that against a daily requirement of 125-150 truckloads of tomato, merely 15-20 were coming into the Azadpur market. However, Kohli and other traders believe that prices would ease in the next 8-10 days with fresh arrivals from the south.
"Fresh supply of tomato is expected to arrive in Azadpur market from Nashik, Peepal Gaon and Mumbai in Maharashtra, Mangalore and Bangalore in Karnataka and Haldwani (Uttaranchal) in the next 8-10 days, resulting in a fall in prices," Kohli said.
Supply from Himachal Pradesh is also expected to increase in the coming days.
Surendra Kumar of the Tomato Traders Association expressed confidence that the crisis is "temporary" and consumers will soon get the commodity at much cheaper rates, with adequate arrival from producing areas.
However, they did not specify the quantum of fall seen in the next fortnight. The country produced over 11 million tonnes of tomato in 2008-09, according to National Horticulture Board data.
