16 July, 2023: 300% hike in the prices of tomatoes ? What does that mean ? How did it happen ?
Did you hear any chatter in your home recently regarding tomatoes ? That is due to its skyrocketing price.
According to data from the Department of Consumer Affairs, tomato prices have increased 341% year to date, from 24.68 rupees per kg to 108.92 rupees per kg .
A kilo of tomatoes used to cost 40 rupees (40p) in cities like Mumbai or Delhi, but costs have skyrocketed to 160 rupees and higher making them pretty much unaffordable to most households.
This happened particularly due to India's unpredictable weather during this year's tomato season, especially recent unusually heavy rainfall that destroyed the crops and caused a fatal fungal disease.
According to India's National Institute of Biotic Stresses Management, an organization devoted to agricultural research, flooding in major tomato-producing regions including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka has been a major factor in the price increase.
“Due to excess rainfall in these states, tomato [crops have] been highly affected… A large part of the tomato crop has been destroyed due to rains and flood,” stated the council.
This tomato crisis has affected big food chains such as McDonalds. Signs stating that tomatoes will no longer be used in burgers and other dishes were posted in McDonald's locations across north, east, and south India.
Small scale tomato farmers stated that this season has been the most disastrous for them in terms of production of tomatoes and revenue obtained by selling them. In the Kurukshetra region of Haryana, tomato farmer Arvind Malik from Kheri Dabdalan village, explained how disease started to affect this season's crop.
“In February, the leaves of tomato plants started drying up. The experts told us that irregular weather – sudden rise and decline in temperatures – is the reason behind the disease in our tomatoes. We got expensive fungicides and sprayed them on our crop. Somehow the disease stopped but only after ruining a lot of crops,” he said.
Other staples like onions, ginger, and chillies have seen price increases as a result of weather-related problems that have harmed the crops.
According to traders, it might take up to three months for supply and prices to return to normal. This will likely cause consumer unhappiness—which is already high