In light of the surge in tomato prices within the retail market, Minister of State of Consumer Affairs, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, expressed optimism that the prices are anticipated to decline soon. He pointed out that this reduction is likely to occur as the new crop from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh starts to arrive in the market.
This was in response to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha by MP Kartikeya Sharma in the Monsoon session of the Parliament.
The Consumer Affairs Minister emphasized that the Government has taken action to address the rising prices of tomatoes and ensure they remain affordable for consumers. To achieve this, they have initiated the procurement of tomatoes through the Price Stabilisation Fund, making them accessible to the public at significantly subsidized rates.
“The National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) are continuously procuring tomato from mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and making it available at affordable prices in major consuming centres in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Rajasthan after subsidizing the price to the consumers,” the Minister stated.
Read More: Central government takes action to address soaring tomato prices, plans procurement from key states
“The tomatoes have been disposed initially at retail price of INR 90/kg which has been reduced to INR 80/kg from 16.07.2023 and further reduced to INR 70/kg from 20.07.2023,” the statement added.
According to the Minister, the recent surge in tomato prices could serve as an incentive for farmers to increase tomato cultivation, which, in turn, is expected to stabilize prices in the upcoming months.
As per the Minister’s statement, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DAFW) enacts the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to safeguard growers of perishable agri-horticultural commodities from facing distress sales during periods of bumper crop production. This initiative aims to counteract the situation when prices drop below economic levels and the cost of production, thereby providing support to the farmers.
Nevertheless, he added that the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has not received any proposals from State Governments to date for market intervention in order to tackle the distress sale of tomatoes.
Additionally, he stated that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries carries out Operation Greens with the aim of enhancing value addition and reducing post-harvest losses of agri-horticultural commodities, including tomatoes.
