Tomato At Rs 100 A Kg; Why Is India Seeing Red?

The extreme heat of last year nudged many farmers to move from tomato to crops like maize this year. The rabi tomato crop could not withstand sustained temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius, TIE reported a tomato grower from Junnar taluka of Pune district as saying.

The area of maize in the country has gone up from 84.56 lh last year to 88.50 lh this year. The resilience of the crop in extreme weather and increased demand from grain-based ethanol manufacturers are reasons for the popularity of maize. Many farmers had complained of bacterial and viral disease attacks on their tomato crop last Kharif. Tomato is cash intensive and farmers say it needs a capital input of at least Rs 1-2 lakh per acre, the report added.

The modal (average) price of tomato at the wholesale market of Pimpalgaon Baswant in Nashik is currently around Rs 52-55/kg. Prices are expected to stay at this level or even rise further in the coming days, according to farmers. Fresh harvests in Nashik and Telangana after Dussehra will supply the market for some time, but prices are likely to rise again as another supply squeeze follows, according to the report.