Heatwave hits tomato yield, pushes prices up in Chandigarh

Available for ₹30 per kg in Chandigarh at the beginning of summer, tomatoes were being sold for ₹50 per kg in June first week and their price has now gone up to ₹60 per kg

The seven-day heatwave in the region last week has spurred hike in vegetable prices at apni mandis, with farmers claiming extreme heat has damaged many crops.

The supply of kitchen-staple tomato has been hit hard by the seven-day heatwave in and around Chandigarh last week. (Hindustan Times)

Kitchen-staple tomato is the worst affected. Available for ₹30 per kg at the beginning of summer, tomatoes were being sold for ₹50 per kg in June first week and their price has now gone up to ₹60 per kg.

“Tomato crops are easily affected by high temperature and go bad even after harvest, if left out in the heat. As Chandigarh is getting supply of tomatoes from Punjab, the prices are still relatively under check, but could increase further,” said Harpreet Singh, supervisor, Punjab Mandi Board, at the Dhanas apni mandi held on Tuesday.

Singh added that the extreme heat can affect prices of bottle gourd and ridge gourd as well in the coming days.

While the price of onions has also increased slightly from ₹20 per kg to ₹25 per kg, that of potato is stable at ₹20 per kg.

Because of the scorching temperatures in the afternoon, the functioning of apni mandis has also changed. While customers are already few and far between in the afternoon, many vendors have also been keeping their shops closed to prevent the heat from damaging their produce.

With monsoon rains on the horizon, if the pre-monsoon rains are heavy, further damage to vegetables can be expected, mandi officials said.

Meanwhile, the price of lemons that had gone past ₹250 per kg in April has finally stabilised. Lemons are available for ₹80 per kg at apni mandis and for ₹50 per kg at the wholesale market in Sector 26.