IANS | 31 Jul, 2023
There seems to be no respite for the people from the rising prices of
tomatoes in Tamil Nadu as the wholesale price of the vegetable touched
Rs 200 per kilogram in the state capital and many towns on Sunday.
The shortage of the product in the Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai has led to the spiraling price rise of tomatoes.
P.V.
Ahmad, a wholesale vegetable dealer in Koyambedu market while speaking
to IANS said, “There is a shortage in the arrival of tomatoes from
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to the heavy losses in crop due to
intermittent rain in these states. Heavy rain has led to a total loss of
crops and hence the shortage in the arrival of tomatoes. This has led
to the hike in prices of tomatoes in the market.”
Traders also said that the price is likely to rise into Rs 250 / kg in a week's time
P.
Sukumaran, secretary of the Koyambedu Wholesale Merchants Association,
while speaking to IANS said, "This is the first time since the opening
of this market that the price of tomatoes has touched Rs 200 per
kilogram. This is unprecedented.
"We were expecting the rates to
get steady by July 20 but sudden rain has led to the loss of crops and
more than 50 per cent of tomatoes cultivated in Andhra and Karnataka
have been lost due to the rain.”
While the wholesale market was
selling tomatoes at Rs 200 per kilogram, in certain retail shops,
tomatoes were sold at Rs 185 per kilogram.
Kuppusaamy, a vegetable
seller in Pammal, Chennai told IANS, “We are selling tomatoes at less
than the rates that we buy as we want to avoid wastage.”
The sale volume has also decreased drastically and people are not buying tomatoes and instead focusing on other vegetables.
