DHARMAPURI: After six months of poor pricing caused by a market glut, tomato prices have seemingly improved due to seasonal impacts. On Wednesday, the price reached about Rs 15 per kg in the retail market and Rs 20 per kg in the wholesale market. However, farmers said that increasing moisture has been affecting tomato cultivation.
Tomatoes are cultivated on about 13,000 acres annually across Dharmapuri, district, with approximately 4,000 acres cultivated in June. But as the monsoon intensifies, farmers fear its impact and have stopped tomato cultivation, leading to price surge in Dharmapuri. Agriculture marketing officials stated, "The hike is a seasonal fluctuation caused by the monsoon."
Speaking to TNIE, P Ganesh, a tomato farmer from Palacode, said, "For the past six months, wholesale prices have been between Rs 5 and Rs 7, of which Rs 1 is collected for cleaning and packaging the produce. A few farmers have not been able to break even as they invest about Rs 20,000 per acre, including labour charges. Even with the price hike, the situation is not favourable to farmers, but low production has caused the price hike."
S Velu, a trader from Palacode, said, "Usually, in the private tomato markets, we get about 12,000 tonnes in the summer during the glut. But this year, we hardly got about 3,500 tonnes of tomatoes. Farmers are abandoning tomato cultivation because of unfavourable circumstances. Even traders are feeling the crunch and it is not profitable to sell for a profit of Rs 1 or Rs 2, as we will incur more losses. Even now, when prices are high, there is little profit to be made. So the amount of trade conducted in the private wholesale market has also reduced."
K Saravanan of Pulikarai said, "Tomato prices peak twice a year and drop twice a year, so this price hike now is normal. This year, with the IMD announcing the early onset of the SW monsoon, many farmers have stopped production, not wanting to face losses."
Officials in agriculture marketing said, "We can only say that the demand and supply chain are functioning properly now due to low production. During monsoon, it is often difficult for farmers to manage crops, leading to losses. So this has led to reduced production, but this situation is also temporary."