New Delhi: Amid rising tomato prices across the country due to heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where major supplies come from, the Center has sought procurement of tomatoes from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Consumer affairs ministry officials said the tomato stock will be distributed through retail outlets at subsidized prices to consumers in the Delhi-NCR region by Friday.
The ministry has directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumer Federation (NCCF) to immediately procure tomatoes from the mandis of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, for simultaneous distribution to major consumption centers where retail The maximum increase in prices has been recorded. last one month.
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At present, the supply to the markets of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and few other states is mostly from Maharashtra especially Satara, Narayangaon and Nashik which is expected to be till the end of this month.
Tomatoes are mainly supplied to Delhi-NCR from Himachal Pradesh and some also from Kolar, Karnataka.
Official sources said the new crop is expected to arrive soon from Nashik district.
Besides, additional supplies are expected to come from Narayangaon and Aurangabad belts.
Arrivals are also expected to start from Madhya Pradesh.
The prices are expected to come down in the near future, he said.
Though tomato prices have remained high for the past one month, the consumer affairs ministry had said a few weeks ago that they would stabilize by mid-July as supplies from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were expected.
However, due to heavy rains and floods in both the states, tomato prices have skyrocketed, forcing the Center to source supplies from southern and western states.
Tomato is produced in almost all the states in India, though in varying amounts. Its maximum production is in the southern and western regions of India, which contribute 56 percent to 58 percent of the all-India production.
The southern and western regions being surplus states supply other markets depending on the production season.
The production season also varies from region to region.
The peak harvesting season is from December to February. The July–August and October–November periods are generally low-production months for tomatoes.
With the month of July coinciding with the monsoon season, distribution challenges are exacerbated and transit losses increase, leading to a rise in prices.