Tomato price will drop, let December come: Government

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• Nov 27, 2021 | moderator

New Delhi: The general public is facing troubled times in their daily vegetable shopping as their favourite veggies is beyond their shopping bags. The price of tomato has increased in an unprecedented manner in the last few weeks. But there is some good news as this price rise will see a slump in the coming days.

The average retail price of tomatoes will fall in December as the arrival of the common vegetable ingredient from north Indian states will start from the beginning of the next month, the government said on Friday. The ministry of consumer affairs, food & public distribution stated that the arrival of tomatoes is expected to be at par with last year which could bring much-needed relief to consumers.

Also read: Bihar, Jharkhand, UP among the poorest states in India: NITI Aayog

As per the data, retail tomato prices began to rise from the beginning of October and have been ruling at elevated levels in November.

All India modal retail price of tomato stood at Rs 40 per kg on October 1 and shot up to Rs 50 per kg by end of the month. The prices further rose to Rs 80 per kg on November 23.

There has been a sharp rise in retail tomato prices in major cities of south India due to widespread moderate to heavy rainfalls during the northeast monsoon since the first week of November due to frequent formations of low-pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal, or cyclonic circulation in the Arabia Sea.

As a result, the tomato crop has been damaged causing tight supply situation.

The price rise of onion, meanwhile, substantially subsided in October. According to the ministry, the all-India average retail price of Onion as of Thursday was at Rs 39 per kilogram, 32 percent lower than last year.