Extreme low prices for six months is reason behind current tomato crisis, says Maha govt

The seeds of the severe shortage of tomatoes in the country and their record high prices was sown during the past six months when the tomato growers had suffered losses due to non remunerative prices, shows preliminary findings by the agricultural department of Maharashtra.

The state is a key supplier of tomatoes to the country during the months of July and August, when growing vegetables is a challenge.

The agricultural commissioner of Maharashtra held a meeting with the district agricultural officers and the vice chancellors of the agricultural universities in the state on Tuesday.



“The plantation of tomato has declined in the state due to financial losses suffered by the farmers due to non remunerative prices, while the new plantations have been delayed due to delayed monsoon in the state,” said agriculture commissioner Sunil Chavan in a press release.

Pockets like Narayangaon and Junnar near Pune are among the few other key regions like areas around Bangalore and Solan in Himachal Pradesh, which can grow tomatoes during the monsoon months.

“As per the preliminary findings, farmers have reduced the area under tomato cultivation as they suffered financial losses due to non-remunerative prices,”

“Tomato farmers received very low rates for their produce during the six months from December 2022 till May 2023,” said Chavan.

Tomato prices in the state ruled between Rs 6/kg to Rs 9/ kg during December 22 till February 23. In the month of March, tomato prices were Rs 11/kg, while in April they again ruled between Rs. 8 -9/kg.

“The unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm during the month of March, April and May resulted in fall in the state’s tomato production,” said Chavan adding, “The the monsoon arrived late by a days and there is a deficit of 54% in the rain fall, which has delayed the sowing of new tomato crop.”