Explained: Why tomato prices have hit Rs 100/ kg

Why are prices of tomato rising, and for how long will this situation last?

Why prices are up

The main reasons for the sudden price spike is lower than expected sowing, and destruction of market-ready crop in some parts of the tomato zone due to heavy rain in the last week of September, farmers said.

As of September 20, total sowing of 1.98 lakh hectares (lh) of kharif tomato was reported, far below the target of 2.89 lh. On this date last year, 2.20 lh of kharif tomato had been sown.

Unlike onion, which is grown thrice a year, there is only a kharif and a rabi tomato. Kharif tomato is grown mainly in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana; the rabi crop is grown in parts of Maharashtra and parts of Karnataka.

Rabi tomato is transplanted in February-March and harvested after about 160 days. The kharif crop is transplanted after June-July, and transplantation can continue till September in parts of Maharashtra.

Abhijit Gholap, a tomato grower from Junnar taluka of Pune district said the extreme heat of last year nudged many farmers to move from tomato to crops like maize this year. “The rabi tomato crop could not withstand sustained temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius,” he said.

Area under maize in the country has gone up from 84.56 lh last year to 88.50 lh this year. Resilience of the crop in extreme weather and increased demand from grain-based ethanol manufacturers are reasons for the popularity of maize.

Many farmers had complained of bacterial and viral disease attacks on their tomato crop last kharif. Tomato is cash intensive — and farmers such as Gholap say it needs a capital input of at least Rs 1-2 lakh per acre. With bacterial and viral diseases increasing the input cost, tomato is often not remunerative. “This is another reason why farmers have moved away,” he said.

When will prices fall?

The modal (average) price of tomato at the wholesale market of Pimpalgaon Baswant in Nashik is currently around Rs 52-55/kg. Prices are expected to stay at this level or even rise further in the coming days, Gholap and other farmers said. Fresh harvests in Nashik and Telangana after Dussehra will supply the market for some time, but prices are likely to rise again as another supply squeeze follows.

Since the next crop will hit the market only around March, no significant reduction in retail prices of tomato is likely in the near future.