TIRUPATI: A bumper tomato crop and glut in markets has led to crashing of its prices in Madanapalle, Palamaner, Punganur and Mulakalacheruvu markets.
A carton (30 kg) of local variety tomato, which sold between ₹300 and ₹900 in the wholesale market two months ago, is this week fetching only from ₹50 to ₹250 a carton.
Many farmers in regions of Thamballapalle, Mulakalacheruvu, Peddathippasamudram, Kurabalakota, Nimmanapalli, Gurramkonda, Kothakota and other mandals are letting tomato rot on the plant, as they are unable to recover harvesting and transportation costs.
The current drop is similar to price trend in April last year, when the price plummeted to ₹6–10 a kg in the retail market. This time, the downtrend began in third week of March when the price went down to ₹20 a kg. It was ₹10–5 a kg last week and now it has gone down further.
“Heavy arrivals automatically lead to a drop in price. Prices depend on quality of the fruit and demand in the market. Further, local varieties cannot be stored for a long time. They are thus sold off for lesser prices before their quality deteriorates,” pointed out R. Chinnabba, a local trader.
T. Babu Naidu, a farmer from Madanapalle division, said: “For one acre field, we need to spend at least ₹1.0–1.5 lakh to grow tomatoes and harvest them. Currently, we are getting only ₹70–80 for 30 kg in markets. That is why, I have left two acres of my crop un-harvested.”
