Supply crunch pushes up tomato price in Tiruchi

The price of tomato has skyrocketed in Tiruchi market because of short supply.

In the retail stores, 1 kg of tomato was sold between ₹80 and ₹100 on Thursday. The retail price of one kg of tomato was hovering between ₹70 and ₹80 in Gandhi Market. It was ₹60 a kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of tomato, which was sold between ₹20 and ₹30 in the first week of November, began to increase from the second week and was hovering around ₹40 a kg. It went up again in the third week and hit ₹100 a kg in the fourth week.

Farmers in Pollachi, Dindigul, Dharapuram, Sempatti, and Oddanchathiram in western districts of the State had been the suppliers of tomato to Tiruchi. In addition to them, the traders in Tiruchi receive tomato from Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, some parts of Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The Tiruchi market requires about 300 tonnes to 350 tonnes of tomato daily. If the supply comes down below 300 tonnes, the price will increase, according to traders at Gandhi Market.

“As against an average arrival of 25 trucks carrying tomatoes, the market received less than 20 trucks, thereby causing a mismatch between demand and supply, for the last few days. It has caused an increase in prices,” says M.K. Kamalakannan, a retail trader in Gandhi Market. Another trader said that when compared to Wednesday, the prices had dipped on Thursday with the arrival of 22 trucks. However, the change in prices would not be implemented by the retailers, who run grocery stores as they tend to maintain the high rate for at least a few days. The price rise was temporary. It would come down gradually.