Tomato prices in Bengaluru shoot up from Rs 10 to Rs 60, may be edging towards Rs 100-mark

This is due to a supply crunch caused by incessant rains in the state

The retail price of tomatoes, which reached a maximum of Rs 15 in September, has shot up to as much as Rs 60 in various districts in Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, after a supply crunch due to incessant rains.

Traders say that if the same situation continues, the price may reach close to Rs 100 in the state capital.

This sudden spike is due to a shortage in supply from the surrounding rural areas of Bengaluru and Maharashtra.

Incessant rains in neighbouring districts of Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural in the past month and low temperatures in the region have hit the tomato crop hard. Farmers are unable to cultivate tomatoes as their lands are wet due to continuous rains and they say that the situation has affected 50 per cent of the production of the crop.

There is a 40 per cent reduction in the arrival of tomatoes from Kolar, Chintamani, Doddaballapur, Chikkaballapur, Malur, Magadi and other surrounding areas to APMC. "We are also not getting tomatoes from the various parts of Maharashtra. Due to an increase in the demand, the prices are moving upwards," says Gopi, Vegetable Sellers Association President.

Sources in the Horticultural Producers Cooperative Marketing Processing Society (HOPCOMS), explained that every day there was an arrival of 2 tonnes of tomatoes and now the supply is decreasing for over a week. Due to the shortage of supply, the prices have shot up. If the trend continues, tomatoes are all set to burn the pockets of the common man, they say.

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