With glut in production, tomatoes at throwaway prices in Hyderabad markets  

HYDERABAD: Tomatoes, one of the essential vegetables, are being sold at throwaway prices at vegetable markets and rythu bazaars across Hyderabad.

On Monday, tomatoes were being sold for as less as Rs 6 per kg at vegetable markets such as Bowenpally market, and at rythu bazaars, these were sold for as little as Rs 8 per kg. 

A box of tomatoes containing 30 kg was being sold at Rs 100 at many places like Erragadda rythu bazaar. Hostel owners in and around Ameerpet and SR Nagar are buying tomatoes in bulk. These prices were fixed by market committees and farmers as there is a huge surplus that remains unsold at the end of the day. 

Farmers attribute low prices of tomatoes to arrivals of fresh produce from neighbouring districts. “As there is a huge production, we are selling tomatoes at cheaper prices. However, we could not recover the costs spent in cultivation and production with these prices and many of us are facing difficulties,” said J Shekhar, a farmer at the Erragadda rythu bazaar.

Earlier, vegetable markets in Hyderabad would mainly sell tomatoes from other States. However, there has been a huge production from local parts this year. At the Bowenpally vegetable market, tomatoes were supplied from Shamirpet, Toopran, Vikarabad, Gadwal and Bhuvanagiri along with parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. 

On Monday, this market received over 1,900 quintals of tomatoes, which include 675 quintals from the State. In total, the market has received more than 10,000 quintals of vegetables including 4,000 quintals of potatoes, 784 quintals of green chillies and 1,000 quintals of cabbage.

On the other hand, green chillis have become costly due to low production and this is a common affair every year during this time. One kg of green chillis is being sold for Rs 65 in rythu bazaars.