The first-grade tomato variety was sold at ₹18 per kg at the Madanapalle market in Annamayya district on Friday, while the second-grade ones were available at ₹13 a kg. | Photo Credit: File Photo
Even as drastic price fluctuations last week and adverse climatic conditions have caused some inconvenience to the tomato growers in the Rayalaseema region, they say that the price band for the vegetable remains ‘reasonable’.
On December 13 (Friday), the first-grade variety was sold at ₹18 per kg at the Madanapalle market in Annamayya district, while the second-grade tomatoes were available at ₹13 a kg.
The arrival of stocks stood at 110 tonnes compared to the regular more than 1,000 tonnes during the season. Since the October first week, the Madanapalle region, considered Asia’s largest tomato cultivation belt, has been witnessing adverse climatic conditions, resulting in the plummeting of the yields.
Tomato growers said that despite poor yields and low demand in the retail market, the prices of their produce never went below ₹15 per kg.
For instance, the market yard officials confirmed that the tomato price which stood at ₹24 a kg on Thursday fell to ₹18 on Friday. Traders said that whether the yield goes up or comes down, December and January witness low demand from consumers, which is attributed to the winter season, during which period the exports to the northern States would touch the lowest levels.
Meanwhile, a similar scenario prevailed in several parts of the Rayalaseema region, including Kurnool, Anantapur, and the neighbouring Kolar and Chintamani belts in Karnataka.
On December 13 (Friday), tomato prices in the agriculture market yards in Kurnool and Anantapur district commanded an average of ₹18 a kg. The market staff at Pathikonda in Kurnool district said that tomato growers could get reasonable prices for a week.
Referring to the incidents of some farmers dumping their stocks on the roadside in the district and alleging plummeting of the prices to ₹1 or even below, market sources said that such abandoned stocks are generally the damaged ones and the third-grade varieties, which is considered scrap in the market yards.
Published – December 13, 2024 07:13 pm IST
