Tomato prices crash to Rs 20/kg in retail market in Chennai

CHENNAI: Prices of tomatoes in the city have crashed to Rs 20 a kg for some varieties from Rs 160 a kg two months ago due to a supply glut.
M Thyagarajan, president of the Koyambedu Wholesale Tomato Traders Association, said, “We are receiving about 650 tonnes of tomatoes every day, against just 200 tonnes in November. But, if prices go down further, it will directly affect the farmers.”

In fact, prices of most vegetables have started falling expect for carrots, which sell at Rs 120 a kg in some neighbourhood markets.Onion prices remain in the range ofRs 40 to Rs 44 a kg.
Paramasivam, a vegetable vendor at Thiruvanmiyur, said that prices are expected to drop further for most vegetables in the coming weeks.
The wholesale market at Koyambedu is seeing a rise in supply with 4,500 tonnes of vegetables coming in daily from different parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Carrots continue to be dear as against the daily demand of 56,000 kg, the city and suburbs get less than 28,000 kg.
"It will take one more month for the arrivals of carrots to increase," said S Chandran, secretary of Federation of Wholesale Vegetable Market Associations.