Heavy rains in the important tomato-growing regions of Karnataka, one of the major vegetable producers, over the past several days have negatively impacted arrivals, driving up prices.
At Kolar in Karnataka, the benchmark mandi price for tomatoes increased by 66% on Tuesday to Rs. 1,330 per quintal. Because of the negative effects of the rains on crop yield, traders predict that prices will increase more in the upcoming weeks.
Tomato prices in mandis today are still 150% more than they were a year ago. Mandi prices were over Rs. 3,000 per quintal in June, which caused retail prices to increase to Rs. 90/100 per kg. Retail tomato prices recently increased from Rs. 40 per kg to Rs.50 per kg, from when they were last in effect a fortnight ago.
During this monsoon season, South Interior Karnataka, which includes the important vegetable-growing districts of Kolar, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura, Ramanagara, Mandya, and Mysuru, received 69% more rainfall than the long-term average.
