Tomato prices slide to ₹80 per kg as Chandigarh-Shimla highway reopens

With inclement weather conditions disrupting production and supply of vegetables over the past few weeks, tomato rates had shot up to an all-time high of ₹250 per kg on July 11

The reopening of the Chandigarh-Shimla highway (NH-05) has brought double delight for residents, as resumption of traffic has also helped improve tomato supply, bringing down its prices to ₹80 per kg.

Speaking about this, Harpreet Singh, a supervisor of Punjab Mandi Board in Chandigarh, said, “The production of locally grown tomatoes gets adversely affected due to increase in temperature and untimely rains.” (HT File)

With inclement weather conditions disrupting production and supply of vegetables over the past few weeks, tomato rates had shot up to an all-time high of ₹250 per kg on July 11. Retail shops/vendors were even selling them for ₹300 per kg.

In some respite, the prices had come down to ₹130 per kg over the subsequent week, before again climbing to ₹180 per kg in the first week of August.

Retail shops/vendors were even selling tomatoes for ₹300 per kg.

Speaking about this, Harpreet Singh, a supervisor of Punjab Mandi Board in Chandigarh, said, “The production of locally grown tomatoes gets adversely affected due to increase in temperature and untimely rains. Generally, our local production continues till July end, but due to heavy rains in the region, it was stopped in June itself. When this happens, we import tomatoes from hilly areas, but due to landslides that blocked roads, even that supply got erratic, leading to a steep spike in rates over the past month.”

He added, “On Thursday, the mandis witnessed good supply of tomatoes from hilly areas as the Shimla-Chandigarh highway reopened that helped the ease the prices. We are expecting the prices to decline even more in the next couple of days.”

Like tomatoes, capsicum supply was also disrupted in the city from the hills, due to which it was being sold at ₹100 per kg on Thursday. The coloured bell peppers were ₹200 per kg. The prices, however, will drop as the supply will resume shortly, officials said.

Last year, the highest that the price of tomatoes had gone at the apni mandis was around ₹60 per kg. In November 2021, it had climbed to ₹90 per kg, the highest in recent times, but still had not touched the three-digit mark.

‘Onion prices may shoot up soon’

Meanwhile, mandi board officials said onion prices could rise in the near future. “Onions are grown in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, where incessant rains have damaged the crop. Around 10-15% of the production has been damaged already. The onion supply has been hit and it can lead to a rise in prices soon,” said Harpreet Singh.