The model price of fresh tomato in the benchmark Mumbai wholesale markets slumped to as low as Rs 22/kg on Thursday from the stratospheric level of Rs 75/kg a month ago. Similarly, prices of the vegetable ingredient fell by over 18 per cent in Delhi wholesale mandi to trade at Rs 35/kg from Rs 42.5/kg on July 24.
Tomato price fall brings a much-needed relief to consumers. The kitchen budget of the common public had destabilised in mid-July due to a sharp rise in prices of tomato and onion, along with other green vegetables. Supply of these vegetables had been disturbed on the back of heavy rains.
"But, farmers across the country have started harvesting pre-matured crops. Especially, tomato farmers have increased supply from all across the country, including major producing states like Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat. In fact, supply from Maharashtra has also started, boosting availability of tomato early this season," said Shri Ram Gadhave, president, Vegetables Grower Association of India.
Tomato prices had earlier hit Rs 100 in retail markets in major consumer pockets across the country, prompting the government to call for a contingency plan. Farmers were advised to sell their early harvested crop to fetch better realisation.
"Tomato supply has started coming in from all across the country. Farmers in Maharashtra have also reported a huge quantity of harvest of pre-matured crops to fetch a higher price," said an official with the Agricultural Produce Markets Committee (APMC), Vashi, near Mumbai.
This pre-matured tomato — half ripened and half green — is sold at Rs 20-22/kg in wholesale markets.
APMC official adds that tomato output is likely to remain bumper this year due to favourable Southwest monsoon across major producing states. The Ministry of Agriculture projected India's tomato output at 19.69 million tonnes (mt) for the crop year 2016-17 (July-June) in its second advanced estimates as compared to 18.73 mt in the previous year.
On the other hand, onion also reported a sharp decline in its prices to trade at Rs 17/kg in the Lasalgaon mandi on Thursday, a decline of 31 per cent from its recent peak of Rs 24.5/kg on August 10. To prevent onion from further price rise, the Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan recommended the Union Ministry of Commerce to levy the minimum export price (MEP) and also asked the state governments to levy a stock limit.
The second advanced estimates projected India's onion output at 21.56 mt for 2016-17 compared to 20.93 mt in 2015-16. Ajit Shah, President of Horticulture Exporters Association, however, sees no major quantity of exports happening today at the current price.
According to National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation, India's onion exports trebled to 3.49 mt worth Rs 4,651.52 crore in the financial year (FY) 2016-17 as compared to 1.11 mt of exports worth Rs 2,528.69 crore in previous FY. India's major onion importers are Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia among others.