Tomato prices made a record in the past. Tomatoes sold up to Rs 280 a kg in cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Even in Maharashtra, the prices of tomatoes have troubled the middle class families. Now the prices of tomatoes are coming down. The average wholesale price of tomato declined by Rs 650 per basket in just one day in three mandis of Nashik. A crate contains 20 kg of tomatoes and the price of each fell to Rs 1,100 from Wednesday’s Rs 1,750. Means the prices of tomatoes have fallen by more than 37% in a single day. The total daily arrival of tomatoes in the three agricultural produce market committees—Pimpalgaon, Nashik and Lasalgaon—also increased from 6,800 boxes about a week ago to 25,000 boxes on Thursday.
In Maharashtra’s biggest tomato market, Pimpalgaon, daily arrivals have increased from 1,500 boxes to 15,000 boxes, while in Nashik, it has increased from 5,000 boxes to 10,000 boxes. At Lasalgaon, arrivals have increased from 350 coaches a day about a week ago to 1,500 now. Pimpalgaon APMC officials said that the arrival of tomatoes has picked up in the last few days. He said the average wholesale price of tomatoes in his mandi has dropped from Rs 1,750 per basket on Wednesday to Rs 1,200 per basket on Thursday. The average wholesale price was recorded at Rs 2,400 per basket here on August 3.
“We expect the daily arrival of tomatoes in Pimpalgaon to increase to 25,000 in the next few days,” officials said. Average wholesale tomato prices are also expected to come down to below Rs 1,000 per basket soon. Arun Kale, secretary, Nashik APMC, said that the average wholesale price of tomatoes in the Nashik mandi has come down from Rs 1,800 per basket to Rs 1,000 per basket. He said, ‘The arrival of new crop is increasing. This is the reason for the fall in wholesale prices.
Sharad Deshmukh, a trader, said harvesting of new tomato crops has picked up pace in Chandwad, Niphad, Dindori, Sinnar and other talukas of the district. Moreover, the last few days have been relatively dry. Deshmukh said, “In the next few weeks, the arrival of new tomato crops will increase and the average wholesale price may come down to Rs 700 per basket in a week or two.”