Tomato now costs Rs 80/kg as unseasonal rain hits supply in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: Thanks to unseasonal rain hitting supplies, the price of tomato has crossed Rs 80 for a kilogram in retail stores in the city. The price has been going up for the past few months.
While farmers are happy, it has only added to the woes of residents. Traders said the quantity of tomato arriving in the market has come down by more than half over the past two months.
G Murugan, a vegetable trader from Gandhipuram market, said the tomato price was witnessing huge ups and downs in the past few months. In November 2021, the price reached an all-time high of Rs 130 per kg. While the price dropped sharply to Rs 10 per kg in February this year, the price has been gradually increasing since then.
“The price of 1kg tomato was Rs 70 in retail stores last week. Now, it is priced at Rs 80. In the wholesale market, 1kg tomato is now priced at Rs 70 per kg. The price may not come down for a few more weeks,” he said.
Veronica Rani, a resident of Avarampalayam, said the price hike was a big concern, as tomato was an indispensable item for most recipes. “I was in the habit of buying at least 1kg tomato every time I visit a store. Now, I have cut down on the quantity to just 500g or 250g.”
While the farmers are happy about the price rise, not all are benefitted. A Rajamani, a tomato farmer from Pullakavundanpudur near Thondamuthur, said the yield had come down drastically because of the unseasonal rain in the past two months. “The rain has destroyed the crop on thousands of acres. Only the farmers, who were unaffected by the rain, have benefited from the price rise. Such farmers are very few though.” He said the farmers with the standing crop were lucky, as one crate (14kg) would fetch them Rs 1,000. “We got only Rs 130 per basket a couple of months ago. Encouraged by the price rise, a large number of farmers have now taken up tomato cultivation.”