Tomato prices increase in Coimbatore

Tomato prices, which saw a slight drop last week, in Coimbatore whole sale market shot up again on Monday.

M. Rajendran, president of TK Market Vegetable Merchants Association, said tomato prices (wholesale) declined to ₹1,800 or so last week. However, the prices increased by ₹200 for a 25 kg box and cost ₹2,000 to ₹2,400 a box on Monday.

“The monsoon is letting up in Kerala triggering demand again for vegetables. Almost 1,000 tonnes of vegetables are supplied to Kerala by the wholesale traders in Coimbatore. When monsoon sets in every year, the demand declines for a week and revives. Now, for the last two days, there are no rain in Kerala and so demand has revived,” he said. On Monday, Coimbatore markets received almost 5,000 boxes of tomatoes.

Prices of small onion remained at ₹180 a kg in the wholesale markets while that of big onion dropped by ₹2 a kg. Big onions were sold at ₹15 to ₹20 a kg. “Small onions are consumed mainly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There is shortage in availability of small onions and consumers should switch over to big onion for a few days till the prices decline,” he suggested.

Prices of other vegetables remained almost stable.

eom/msp