HYDERABAD: Tomatoes are making headlines yet again, but, this time, for being a lot cheaper than they were two months ago.Incessant rains that lashed the state in the last few months have reversed price tables in the city’s markets, with the cost of tomatoes, which skyrocketed in July to Rs 75 per kg, has now plummeted to between Rs 20 and Rs 28 per kg. The rains triggered a steep rise in the production of tomatoes and other vegetables, thereby boosting the supply to local markets and leading to a crash in prices.
“Fresh crops reached the markets. The sufficient supply of tomatoes saw prices going down,” said G Lakshmi Bai, director of marketing of the state government. “Compared to the prices in the past few months, the prices of tomatoes and other vegetables have come down drastically following good rains.
Farmers in villages near the city are growing the crop in abundance,” she said.
The Bowenpally wholesale market and other Rythu Bazaars in the city are receiving huge quantities of vegetables, including tomato, from farmers in Anantapur and Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh, and Vikarabad, Shamshabad, Nawabpet, Shankerpally and other villages in Telangana.“Vendors at Rythu Bazars are very happy that there are more takers for tomatoes now with the prices falling suddenly,” a marketing official said, adding that the cost will decrease further.