Prices of tomatoes, green chillies dip significantly in Telangana, AP

HYDERABAD: The prices of tomatoes and green chillies, which were out of common man's reach in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the last two months, have now hovered back to Rs 35 a kg each.

The price of tomatoes in Hyderabad had soared up to Rs 200 per kg and had now dropped to Rs 35 per kg. At several locations in the city, the traders are even selling the staple vegetable of 4 kg for Rs 100.

Tomatoes which were sold at a record high price of Rs 200 per kg a few weeks ago have come down sharply to about Rs 28 a kg in Asia's largest tomato market at Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh on Saturday as supply of the staple vegetable had improved substantially.

A few weeks ago, the farmers in tomato cultivated areas had a tough situation and even installed CCTV cameras on their fields and prevented the tomatoes being stolen from their place. Several of the farmers who had cultivated the tomatoes became billionaires. However, their happiness was short-lived as the prices of the staple vegetable declined drastically.

The sudden drop in the price of tomatoes to Rs 28 a kg in Madanapalle market had worried the farmers a lot, while the consumers heaved a sigh of relief as the much sought-after vegetable was available for them at an affordable price. About 200-250 Metric Tonnes (MT) of tomatoes arrived in Madanapalle Tomato Market from the local farmers on Saturday.

Madanapalle Tomato Market Yard Secretary T Abilash said, “Anticipating the demand for tomato to continue for more days, farmers in Chittoor and Anantapur have cultivated the staple vegetable in large quantities. This has left an impact on the farmers as the price declined gradually with increase in the arrivals.” The first-grade variety tomatoes were being sold at Rs 28 per kg while the second-grade variety was sold between Rs 16 per kg in Madanapalle, he said.

Similar is the case with the prices of green chillies, which had soared up to Rs 100 a kg in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana a few weeks ago, but were now available for Rs 30 a kg in Andhra Pradesh and Rs 35 a kg in Telangana.

Hyderabad's Erragadda Rythu Bazar estate officer Ramesh said that the price of green chillies was dropped to Rs 35 a kg from Rs 100 due to the arrival of the crop, from Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Medak, Chevella and Shamshabad within Telangana, apart from that the arrivals from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were also increased gradually which was one of the reasons for the price drop of green chillies, he said.