Tomato growers around Nashik in Maharashtra are being hit twice at once: drought conditions in the fields and a sudden collapse in prices at Pimpalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), one of India's largest wholesale tomato markets. The average wholesale rate fell nearly 65% in a week, from Rs 321 per 20-kg crate (about Rs 16 a kilo) on 12 October to Rs 111 a crate (Rs 5.55 a kilo) on Monday, 19 October.
The market has been swamped. An APMC official said 3 lakh to 3.75 lakh crates a day had reached Pimpalgaon over the past week, far more than buyers wanted, dragging prices to rock-bottom levels. On Monday crates sold for anything between Rs 20 and Rs 331 depending on quality; poor fruit went for as little as Rs 1 a kilo and the best for up to Rs 16.55.
Traders blamed the heat. High temperatures made tomatoes ripen earlier than usual, so farmers had to pick and send more at the same time, the official in charge of the market's tomato section said.
Demand gave no relief. APMC officials pointed to a slowdown during Navaratri, when several wholesale markets stayed shut, and to weaker export demand. Large consuming states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are also meeting their needs from local harvests for now, buying less from Nashik.
Shoppers are starting to see it. Retail tomatoes sold for Rs 20 a kilo in Nashik on Monday against about Rs 40 a week earlier, a fall of 50%. A retailer said wholesale moves take a day or two to reach shop prices, and that retail prices could fall further if the trend holds. For growers already battling rising cultivation costs, traders warned that wholesale rates could also slide further.
The report is by ET Online, with inputs from The Times of India.
Photo: Tom1cruz / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Source: Economic Times Agriculture/Food
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