Vijayawada: Relief to consumers as price of tomatoes comes down
Tomatoes being sold at Ajit Singh Nagar Rythu Bazaar
in Vijayawada
Vijayawada: Consumers reeling under unprecedented price of tomato got some relief on Monday as the price came down to Rs 80 a kg in Rythu Bazaars in Vijayawada from Rs 145 a kg on August 1 and 2.
The prime reason for the falling of prices is increasing arrival of the vegetable from Chittoor and Anantapur districts. The price is expected to come down further to Rs 50 to Rs 60 in the next few days.
Tomato consumers faced hardships for a month with the skyrocketing price. Due to fall in production in Rayalaseema districts and crop damage in north Indian states, there was a huge shortage of tomatoes across the country.
In Vijayawada, tomatoretail price had crossed Rs 200 at one point. Perhaps for the first time in recent years, the price exceeded Rs 200 a kg in the retail market. Interestingly, the price reached Rs 145 in RythuBazaars of Vijayawada. On August 1 and 2, the price was Rs 145 a kg fixed by the marketing department.
On August 3, the price was Rs 140, on August 4 it was Rs 120 and came down to Rs 108 by August 5. In the last two days, the price decreased to Rs 104 and Rs 80 on Sunday and Monday respectively.
The tomato price was Rs 30 a kg on July 7 and gradually increased to Rs 44 by July 15 and to Rs 98 by July 24. The price soared to Rs 130 by July 31 and reached to Rs 145 by August 1.
In the retail market, the tomato price was Rs 200 a kg in the last week of July causing a huge burden to the common people. Vendors in Rythu Bazaars stopped selling tomatoes some days due to high prices.
The government supplied sold them at a subsidy price of Rs 50 a kg at the Rythu Bazaars in NTR and Krishna districts. People stood in queue lines for one to two hours in Rythu Bazaars to purchase one kg of tomatoes at Rs 50. The marketing department sold tomatoes once or twice a week at subsidy prices.
Ajit Singh Nagar Rythu Bazaar executive officer A Koteswara Rao said the tomato price may come down further to Rs 50-60 a kg in the next few days because imports from Anantapur and Chittoor districts have increased to Vijayawada city.