Ghaziabad: Tomato prices skyrocket in past four days
District officials said transportation has been affected in tomato producing regions such as Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka owing to sudden rains, and that is hampering the supply to markets
Tomato prices have seen a manifold increase in the past four days with wholesale prices rising from ₹500 per quintal on June 17 at the Sahibabad vegetable market to a whopping ₹4,000 per quintal by June 27, said traders on Wednesday.
With wholesale prices that high, retail rates too have shot up. From a rate of ₹20-30 per kilogram just four days ago, tomatoes are being sold on Wednesday at rates ranging from ₹80-120 per kilo in various localities of Ghaziabad.
District officials said transportation has been affected in tomato producing regions such as Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka owing to sudden rains, and that is hampering the supply to markets.
“The Sahibabad vegetable market receives about 800-1,200 quintals of tomatoes daily. The local crop has been exhausted, and states such as Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka have been witnessing heavy rain, which is hampering transportation activities,” said Vishveshwar Singh, secretary, Sahibabad Mandi Samiti.
The figures from market show that tomatoes were being traded at ₹850 per quintal on June 23 and it spiked to ₹3,000 on June 24 and ₹4,000 per quintal on June 27.
With retail prices also sky-high, consumers have cut down on the use of the perishable kitchen staple.
“I usually purchase about 2-3 kilos of tomatoes for the entire week, when prices were between ₹20-30 per kilo. But after this sudden spike, tomatoes are being sold at ₹80-100 per kilo and I have reduced my purchase to just half a kilogram,” said BK Pandey, a resident of Vaishali.
Local traders also reported low sales due to the price hike.
“People are hardly buying tomatoes and sales have declined. We are helpless as we cannot reduce the price when wholesale rates are so high. Customers are hardly buying half a kilo; maybe a kilo at best,” said Adil, a retailer at Ghaziabad city vegetable market in Navyug Market.
District officials said they expect a gradual decline in rates in July.
“We expect that the prices will drop gradually once the new harvest starts coming in. There have been issues of road blocks in Himachal Pradesh and other states due to heavy rain,” Singh said.
