BENGALURU: Following the continuous rise in its price over the last week, tomato prices have touched Rs 100 at some places in the city.A buyer said, a vendor at Rajarajeshwari Nagar was selling it for Rs 100 per kilo. Its price in the Hopcoms outlets, as on Thursday, was Rs 90. Chairman of the Hopcoms outlets G R Sreenivasan said, just a month ago, the vegetable was being sold at Rs 10-20 per kilo. He said the prices are expected to come down a bit from today.
Sreenivasan said, the reason for the steep prices was, ironically, its once-upon-a-time low price. He said, “Six months ago, farmers didn’t maintain the crop well because the price was low. At one point, the price had become as low as Rs 5-6 per kilo. Also, the number of tomato growers is usually very less during summers.”
He added that farmers have a herd mentality, wherein if one farmer does something, the rest would tend to follow suit. These factors have created a shortage in the market, which has driven up the price, he opined.
“By next month the prices should be back to normal,” he added.
When asked if the lack of rainfall was a factor, he denied it. He said it was in fact heavy rainfall which spoiled the tomato crop, resulting in price hike.
Prices of a few other commodities have also increased. Banana of the ‘yelakki’ variety is sold for Rs 83 at Hopcoms outlets, while the cost of various varieties of grapes ranges from Rs 39-75.