Freshly procured tomatoes arrive in Delhi, to be sold at Rs 90/kg starting today

New Delhi [India], July 14 : Freshly procured tomatoes, which arrived in the national capital overnight, are to be sold in the retail markets here by the government agency National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF), starting today.

The kitchen staple will be sold at Rs 90 per kg, the consumer affairs department said.

Amid a sharp spurt in tomato prices across the country, the Central government on Wednesday directed its agricultural marketing agencies — NAFED and NCCF — to immediately procure the staple vegetable from mandis in key growing states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.

The sharp rise in tomato prices has been reported across the country, and is not just limited to a particular region or geography. In key cities, it rose to as high as Rs 150-160 per kg.

Once procured, these freshly procured tomatoes are to be despatched for simultaneous distribution in major consumption centres where retail prices have recorded maximum increase in the past one month.

The periods during July-August and October-November are generally the lean production months for tomato.

The stocks of tomato will be distributed through retail outlets at “discounted prices” to the consumers in Delhi NCR region by Friday, this week, an official release said Wednesday.

Tomato is produced almost in all the states in India, though in varying quantities. The southern and western regions of India accounts for 56-58 per cent of total tomato production in the country.

“Southern and Western regions being surplus states, feed to other markets depending on production seasons. The production seasons are also different across regions. The peak harvesting season occurs from December to February,” the food ministry had said.

“The cycle of planting and harvesting seasons and variation across regions are primarily responsible for price seasonality in Tomato. Apart from the normal price seasonality, temporary supply chain disruptions and crop damage due to adverse weather conditions etc. often lead to sudden spikes in prices," it added.

The government attributed the rise in prices to the monsoon season, saying that it added to further challenges related to distribution and increased transit losses.

Tomatoes have a relatively lower shelf life.

Currently, the supplies coming to markets in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and some other states are mostly from Maharashtra especially Satara, Narayangaon, and Nashik, which is expected to last till this month end.

Madanapalle (Chittoor) in Andhra Pradesh also has seen continued arrivals in reasonable quantities. The arrivals in Delhi NCR are mainly from Himachal Pradesh and some quantity comes from Kolar in Karnataka.

New crop arrivals are expected soon from Nashik district.

Further, in August, additional supply is expected to come from Narayangaon and Aurangabad belt. Madhya Pradesh arrivals are also expected to start, the government said.

According to the database maintained by the Price Monitoring Division under the Department of Consumer Affairs, per kilogram tomato on average rose by Rs 60-100 this month of what they were in retail markets in early June.

Data showed prices of tomatoes in Delhi going up exponentially from Rs 20 per kg in early June to Rs 110 last week. Similarly, in Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata, three key consuming regions, the prices per kilogram rose to Rs 117, Rs 100, and Rs 148.

Data showed the rates of the staple vegetable tomato were in tune with the rise in their prices in wholesale markets, which jumped substantially on average in June.

The rise in tomato and other vegetable prices was reflected in the June retail inflation data.

Bucking the trend, retail inflation in India rose considerably in June to 4.81 per cent, largely due to a sharp spurt in vegetable prices. Vegetables, meat and fish; eggs; pulses and products; spices indices saw an uptick.

Back in May, the retail inflation (final) was at 4.31 per cent, hitting a two-year low. It was at 4.7 per cent in April and 5.7 per cent the previous month.