IANS | 12 Jul, 2023
Amid spiralling prices of tomatoes across the country due to heavy
rains in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from where bulk of supplies
arrive, the Centre has sought procurement of tomatoes from Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Tomato stocks will be
distributed through retail outlets at discounted prices to the consumers
in Delhi-NCR region by Friday, Consumer Affairs Ministry officials
said.
The Ministry has directed the National Agricultural
Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and National Cooperative
Consumers Federation (NCCF) to immediately procure tomatoes from mandis
in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, for simultaneous
distribution in major consumption centres where retail prices have
recorded maximum increase in the last one month.
Currently, the
supplies coming to markets in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and some other
states are mostly from Maharashtra especially Satara, Narayangaon, and
Nashik, which is expected to last till this month-end.
Tomato supplies in Delhi-NCR are mainly from Himachal Pradesh and some also come from Kolar, Karnataka.
New crop arrivals are expected soon from Nashik district, official sources said.
In addition to this, additional supply is expected to arrive from the Narayangaon and Aurangabad belt.
Madhya Pradesh arrivals are also expected to start.
Prices are anticipated to cool down in the near future accordingly, they added.
Though
tomato prices have been on a high since the last one month, the
Consumer Affairs Ministry had said few weeks ago that they will
stabilise by mid-July, as supplies were expected from Himachal Pradesh
and Uttarakhand.
However owing to heavy rain and floods in both
the states, tomato prices continue to hit the roof, forcing the Centre
to source supplies from the southern and western states.
Tomato
is produced almost in all the states in India, though in varying
quantities. Its maximum production is in southern and western regions of
India, which contribute 56 per cent to 58 per cent of all India
production.
Southern and western regions being surplus states, feed to other markets depending on production seasons.
The production seasons are also different across regions.
The
peak harvesting season occurs from December to February. The periods
during July-August and October-November are generally the lean
production months for tomato.
The month of July coinciding with
the monsoon season, adds to further challenges related to distribution
and increased transit losses, thus leading to price rise.
