Vegetable prices are soaring, and amid this a woman farmer has lodged a complaint over the theft of tomatoes worth 2.5 lakh taka, as the Bengali report puts it. The incident happened in Goni Somanahalli village in Hassan district of India's Karnataka, according to a report by the Indian media outlet NDTV.
The farmer, named Dharini, alleges that 50 to 60 bags of tomatoes were stolen from her field last Tuesday night, causing her a loss of 2.5 lakh. A case has been filed at Halebidu police station.
Voicing her anger, she said they had been planning to harvest the tomatoes and sell them in the Bengaluru market, where they would have fetched 120 rupees a kg. But everything was lost before that.
She said they had grown the tomatoes with borrowed money. The yield was good this time and the market price would have been good too. The thief did not stop at stealing the tomatoes but also destroyed the remaining plants, she said.
Police investigating
Police have begun investigating, and a case has been filed under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code. Police have assured that the accused will be caught quickly.
Vegetable prices have been rising for several days, and tomato prices in particular have buyers worried. In various states tomatoes are selling for 100–200 rupees a kg, and in Bengaluru for 101 to 121 rupees a kg.
Prices soar in West Bengal
Vegetable prices are also rising in West Bengal. Almost as soon as the monsoon arrived, retail vegetable prices in Kolkata and surrounding urban areas shot up. Ordinary shoppers are struggling at retail markets: their pockets empty but their shopping bags do not fill, and they are at a loss over the prices.
A visit to retail vegetable markets in Kolkata and surrounding urban areas on Wednesday (5 July) found green chillies selling for 200 to 300 rupees a kg. Two or three days earlier the price was even higher, at 350 to 400 rupees a kg.
Tomatoes are costing about 150 rupees a kg. Ginger is not far behind green chillies, at about 300 rupees a kg, while garlic sells for 200 rupees a kg, better-quality onions for 30 rupees a kg and small onions for 20 to 25 rupees a kg.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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