The price of tomato has been seeing a steady rise in the city over the past few weeks. As on Thursday, one kg of tomato was being sold for ₹64 in the city rythu bazaars and around ₹80 in public markets.
While the Marketing Department officials attribute the price hike to tight supply, people say that the price increased by ₹15 to ₹20 in a week, burning a hole in their pocket.
“Around 10 days ago, I had purchased one kg of tomatoes for ₹46 in a rythu bazaar. On Sunday, the price is ₹62. Since we use tomatoes in almost all the dishes, the officials must try to control the prices,” said S. Ramakrishna, who was purchasing vegetables at a rythu bazaar in the city.
V. Rekha, a retired bank employee, said that this was for the second time, the prices of tomatoes had increased in the last five months. Some months ago, one kg of tomato had touched around ₹75 in rythu bazaars and ₹100 in private markets,” she recalled, adding that “if the prices are not controlled, soon we may again see queue at rythu bazaars, as in public markets the traders are selling a kg for more than ₹80.”
According to the Marketing Department officials, the supply of tomatoes has almost stopped from the local region. Kondakarla Ava, Sabbavaram and a few areas in Anakapalli region generally produce and supply tomatoes to the city. But this year, the production is less.
“Visakhapatnam is importing tomatoes from Madanapalli of Chittoor district and Kolar region of Karnataka. Earlier, we used to get five trucks with 20 tonnes in each. Now, only two lorries (40 tonnes) are being supplied to the city due to tight supply. In the morning auction, the prices are seen shooting up. In rythu bazaars, we are controlling the prices keeping in view of public interest and selling at a little lesser rates,” said a senior official from the Marketing Department.
Officials hope that the prices will reduce again as soon as the production increases.
Meanwhile, the consumption of tomatoes is being reduced by people due to the high prices.
“In general, the rythu bazaar needs about five to six tonnes of tomatoes per day. Now, we are adjusting with four tonnes due to the price hike,” said Estate Officer of MVP rythu bazaar G. Prasad Rao.
