JOIN USTomato prices have dropped drastically in the City the past few days following a glut in the market.
Retail traders at KR Market said it was for the first time in the past 15 years that the prices have crashed by such a huge margin. “Four days ago, the price of tomato per kg stood at Rs eight and now we are selling at Rs four.”
At Hopcoms outlets, tomato was sold at Rs seven per kg on Monday. Wholesale traders at Kalasipalya vegetable market said the price might have dropped by Re one or Rs two in other parts of the State whereas in the City, they were buying the fruit at Rs four to Rs five per kg from farmers. Shivakumar, a wholesale vegetable merchant at Kalasipalya, said the price hovered at Rs 10 to Rs 15 a kg last week.
Farmers from Chikkaballapur, Mysore and Mandya mainly sell their produce at Kalasipalya vegetable market.
At Krishnarajapuram (KR Puram) vegetable market, wholesale vegetable traders were purchasing a 15-kg bag of tomato at Rs 50- Rs 60.
“Two weeks ago, farmers from Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts were selling a bag at Rs 500-Rs 800 here. Now, wholesale traders are selling the fruit at Rs five per kg to consumers,” Karnataka Raithara Mattu Vyaparigala Okkoota President Ele Srinivas said. Tomato is grown on about 59,000 hectare in State, with Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bangalore Rural districts accounting for about 17,000 hectares.