Tomato prices crash to Rs 10 per kg after touching Rs 50 per kg

New Delhi: Tomato prices, which had skyrocketed to over Rs 50 kg have now dipped to Rs 10 per kg.

Tomato traders said that the dip in the price of this kitchen staple is due to good harvesting of the crop. The price of tomatoes was lowest at the wholesale market in Ulhasnagar, where it was being sold at Rs 6 per kg.

Meanwhile, vegetable vendors and shopping sites continue to sell the vegetable between Rs 20 and Rs 40 per kg.

Both onion and tomato production has been affected due to unseasonal rains and dry spells in some parts of the country.

Onion prices still continue to hamper the kitchen budget. According to the Ministry data, last week, onion was sold at Rs 55 per kg in Delhi, Rs 46 per kg in Mumbai, Rs 55 per kg in Kolkata and Rs 39 per kg in Chennai.

The Central government on Friday extended the ban on stocking onions beyond the prescribed limit by three months in order to curb its rising prices.

The order empowers states to keep a tab on hoarding by traders.

Despite the government taking measures such as procuring onion from local markets, discouraging export, the price of onion has remained high in the past few weeks.

Last month, Paswan had said the public sector body MMTC would import 2,000 tonnes of onion while the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India and Small Farmers Agriculture-business Consortium would procure 10,000 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes, respectively, from farmers to boost supply of onions.

Onion output was 189 lakh tonnes in 2014-15, 209 lakh tonnes in 2015-16 and 217 lakh tonnes in 2016-17. The Agriculture Ministry has not yet come up with data on the output in 2017-18.