Khushboo Singh
Some farmers are getting rich off of the eight-fold increase in tomato prices, but their good fortune may not last long because supplies are expected to climb in the coming weeks.
According to figures gathered by the food ministry, the retail price of tomatoes in Delhi was 178 rupees a kilogram on Sunday, an increase of more than 700% since January 1. That day, the average across India was close to 120 rupees.
Many families have had to temporarily go without tomatoes, a crucial ingredient in staple Indian cuisine, because of the price increase brought on by severe rains affecting supplies. Farmers, though, are overjoyed.
In the current season, Ishwar Gaykar and his wife Sonali, who farm tomatoes on 12 acres (4.9 hectares) of land near Junnar in Maharashtra, have achieved a profit of around 24 million rupees, up from 1.5 million last year at this time.
The pair has become one of the region’s largest suppliers of tomatoes thanks to their reliance on a staff of 60 to 70 people, who work in the fields every day. Ishwar has become a local star, and reporters are clamoring to speak with him.
Ishwar lost roughly 2 million rupees (2021 USD) during the same season because tomato prices were low. “About one and a half months ago, tomatoes were fetching barely 2.5 rupees a kilogramme,” he stated. “Supply is low but demand is still high.”
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So far, the pair has supplied around 350 tonnes, and if the weather holds, they anticipate selling an additional 150 tonnes in the near future. The present crop is somewhere from 120 to 140 days old, making it the third harvest of the year.
Heavy monsoon rains and floods in some locations have disrupted transportation, causing shortages. This has led to higher prices for other veggies, and inflation is expected to rise as a result. The issue has gone viral, and consumers are blaming both the rain god and the authorities for the current drought.
The government has begun deploying mobile vans to offer tomatoes at subsidised prices in several different areas. It’s having an effect, but consumers in the country of 1.4 billion are still paying extraordinarily expensive costs. The price of tomatoes typically rises in the wet summer months of July and August, but this year’s increase has been atypical.
