HYDERABAD: The price of tomatoes, an essential kitchen staple in Telugu households, appears to be competing with that of petrol owing to a hitch in supplies from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Tomatoes now cost between Rs 100-Rs 110 a kg while petrol is priced at Rs 108/litre in Hyderabad.
A 25-kg box of tomatoes was selling at Vantimamidi vegetable market for Rs 800-900 last week. But this week, due to scarcity of tomatoes in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, demand for local tomatoes from Vantimamidi has further increased. On Tuesday morning, the same 25-kg box of tomatoes was sold between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,300 by farmers to traders at Vantimamidi market.
The same box was selling at Rs 1,800 (Rs 72 per kg) at the Bowenpally vegetable market where there was an acute shortage of stock. Most of the tomatoes are imported to Hyderabad from Andhra Pradesh, where it is cultivated in 43 lakh acres, from where 2.27 lakh tonne is produced.
Andhra Pradesh is the highest producer of tomatoes in the country. Most of the tomatoes are grown in Chittoor and Anantapur districts, where rains have caused massive destruction to the crop. Presently, very limited tomato supply is coming in from Solapur in Maharashtra and Chikbullapur in Karnataka.
The Telangana Rythu Bazar Information System shows the price of tomatoes at various Rythu Bazars in the city as Rs 58 per kg. However, retail vegetable vendors have been selling them between Rs 100 and Rs 110/kg depending on the bargaining capacity of the consumer, putting the price of tomatoes on par with petrol.