Srinagar, 22 July: The tomato prices have gone down in Kashmir as the local tomato crop has ripened and there are expectations that the prices will further drop.
The tomato prices were up earlier this month and touched high rates across the country due to floods in Himachal Pradesh and one kilogram of tomato was sold at Rs 120 to 160 in Srinagar.
However, President, Parimpora Fruit Mandi, Bashir Ahmed Basheer said that the prices of local tomatoes in mandis (wholesale markets) are currently sold around Rs 60 to 70 per kg.
He said that the local tomato produce has now ripened further and the prices are expected to drop even more. The local crop was adversely affected by continuous rains, causing significant damage.
“The local produce has now ripened and we will now have more local tomato varieties. We receive most of the produce locally and very minimum supply from outside Kashmir,” the president said.
Basheer said the price rise happened due to the flood situation in Himachal and the demand was high earlier this month and the supply was very limited.
He further said that the prices will further decrease in the next 10 to 15 days. He also highlighted that untimely rains have damaged many vegetables.
“We are currently selling tomatoes at Rs 60 to 70 per kg in Srinagar mandi, while in retail markets, the price is around Rs 100. We have issued a rate list through newspapers, and people should report to the concerned department if they find anyone selling at higher prices,” he said.
“In the past some years the growers would not fetch the expected prices of their produce. This is for the first time in the recent past that we have seen such a rise in tomatoes,” he said.
Mukhtar Ahmad, who deals with tomatoes at Parimpora said tomatoes are easily affected by extreme weather and rains have added to it.
“No one is willing to buy tomatoes for Rs 100 or 120 per kilogram. People have already been hit economically. I don’t think anyone would buy tomatoes if the price remains the same. But now the prices have gone down and people are asking about the rates before they purchase,” he said.
He said July-August and October-November are lean production months for tomatoes. “However, July also sees the onset of the monsoon that adds challenges to the distribution and which is also a reason behind the rise in prices of tomatoes,” he said.
