Increased supply brings down price of tomatoes

CHENNAI: The prices of tomatoes at the Koyambedu wholesale vegetable market came down to Rs 55 per kg on Thursday. Retail prices in the city were Rs 60-70.

Usually, nearly 70 lorries, each carrying seven to eight tonnes of tomatoes, arrive at the market daily. A week ago, only 30 lorries were arriving, due to which the retail price shot up to Rs 120. “The supply from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka has increased slightly.

While we tried to bring load from Maharashtra to manage the demand, a huge quantity of tomatoes went bad due to the heat and long travel time. Hence, we stopped supplies from there,” said P Thiagarajan, President of Koyambedu Vegetable, Fruit and Flower Sellers’ Welfare Association.

He added that rains in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka as well as in Thalavadi, Hosur, Rayakottai, and Krishnagiri have stopped, increasing the yield in these areas. The procurement price of tomatoes at the Mysuru Agricultural Marketing Committee on Thursday was Rs 52.

The price of broad beans and beans at Koyambedu, however, remained high at Rs 40-50 and Rs 70-80 respectively. The price of cabbage saw a marginal rise while the rest of the vegetables recorded no change in prices.