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Bengaluru: As prices soar, Kolar AMPC sells tomatoes at record high
Tomato prices in Kolar, India have reached a record high, with a box of 15 kg selling for ?2,200. The high prices are due to poor crop yield and increased demand.
The price of tomatoes have been soaring across the state. A box containing 15 kg of tomatoes on Tuesday was auctioned for ₹2,200, a record high at the APMC market in Kolar. This is the highest price that tomatoes have been sold since a decade.
The tomato brought by farmer Venkataramana from Vijakur village of Chintamani taluk of Chikkaballapur district sold at record high price of an average of ₹150 per kilogram.
‘’I grew tomato in my one-acre land but did not get sufficient crop due to diseases,” farmer Venkataramana told reporters. He said that all the 36 boxes he brought to the Kolar APMC were auctioned at ₹2,200 each.
‘’If compared to previous years, 700 to 800 lorry loads of tomatoes were exported from Kolar APMC market to other states and foreign countries in the months of June, July and August ‘’ Prashanth Kumar a trader in APMC market said.
“But this year, the crop grown by the farmers in the district were affected due to diseases and the shortage of rain the tomato production has slowed down,” he added.
Kolar situated 70 kilometers from Bengaluru is well known for its vegetable market. Around 70% of vegetables to Bengaluru city are supplied from Kolar district.
The high demand for tomatoes is due to a number of factors, including a poor tomato crop yield in other parts of the country owing to erratic weather and crop diseases.
The high prices are a boon for farmers in Kolar, who have been struggling with low tomato prices for several years.
Kolar district horticulture department deputy director B Kumara Swamy said owing to diseases 25-30 percent crop loss incurred this season, the price would come down only by the end of August after the new crop enters market.‘
’Tomatoes are harvested in 2450 hectares of farm land in Kolar district, and sown in 3500 hectares which come for yield after August second week,”he added.
Traders also say that the high tomato prices are likely to continue for another month due to high demand and lack of supply to meet this demand.In many parts of state Tomato is being sold at ₹120-140 per kilogram.
