With the price of tomato touching Rs 60 per kg and expected to rise by another Rs 5 in the next two days, your favourite tomato dishes may end up leaving a more sour taste than usual.The rate chart from the Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (Hopcoms) lists the cost of tomatoes asRs 58 per kg. However, it is being sold at prices going up to Rs 70 at retail stores. The price has gone up three times in the last few weeks, from Rs 20 per kg in the beginning of December. The cost in August was just Rs 3 per kg due to high yield.
“Normally, Bengaluru gets 500 tonnes of tomatoes every day, but this time it has come down to half. Since consumption remains the same, reduced supply has increased the price,’’ a horticulture official said.The crop has been damaged and the yield is expected to be half the usual produce due to powdery fungus and downy mildew on tomatoes brought about by drought and cold. “The price will remain the same or increase by another ‘5. We are hoping the price will come down by January end or February beginning,’’ Keshav, Procurement and Marketing Manager, Hopcoms, said.
Sunitha Mahesh, a resident of Hosakerehalli said tomatoes are needed for most preparations, including rasam or sambar, even though it may not be the main vegetable. “I got tomatoes for Rs 64 per kg at a shop near my house, while I bought it for Rs 18 last month. We cannot cook without onion or tomatoes, so even if the price shoots up, we will still have to buy it,’’ she said.
Besides tomatoes, other vegetables are getting more expensive too. Srilakshmi, a homemaker at Rajarajeshwarinagar, said that drumstick, which cost Rs 25 per kg till recently, is now available for Rs 140 per kg. “This comes to over Rs 10 for one drumstick.’’The price rise is affecting the business of restaurateurs too.
Agencies
