2023-09-01 03:00:22
Crates of scarlet tomatoes have finally made their return to the aisles of Okhla Wholesale Market in South New Delhi. In the morning, around 6 o’clock, the trucks having traveled thousands of kilometers from Ahmedabad (Gujarat), in the west, Bangalore (Karnataka) or Nashik (Maharashtra), in the south, are unloaded with particular enthusiasm. “New tomatoes are coming, and they are of good quality”rejoices Pappu Singh, a merchant who has been supplying himself here for more than thirty-five years, before supplying restaurants and street vendors in a neighboring district.
In July, heavy monsoon rains and pest attacks in producing areas destroyed part of the crops, and floods blocked roads, hampering the transport of tomatoes. As a result, the prices of this staple food, used for the preparation of many Indian dishes in sauce, have exploded, recording a rise of 700% at their highest. “I need 1,000 kilos of tomatoes a day, and I was only getting 100 because of bad weather, wholesale prices had reached 200 rupees [2,20 euros] the kilo », says Pappu Singh. At the end of August, they went back down to 50 rupees per kilo, or 0.55 euros, and this is a collective relief. “Everyone is happy because tomatoes are cheap”says another merchant, all smiles.
The country went through a “tomato crisis” this summer. The tomato having become a rare commodity, thefts on farms have multiplied, as well as on board transport trucks. In Karnataka, a farmer had 50 to 60 bags of tomatoes stolen at the beginning of July, for a value of 250,000 rupees, or nearly 2,800 euros. Another grower in the same region filed a complaint after unknown people picked the fruits of his harvest worth 1.5 million rupees, or more than 16,000 euros. So, the following month, with the approach of new harvests, farmers in Karnataka, but also in other producing regions, such as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, stood guard around the clock to prevent theft of tomatoes.
Subsidized prices
Fast food chains have announced, one after another, the removal of tomatoes from their menu. After bad harvests and because of soaring prices, McDonald’s, Subway or Burger King had decided to remove it from their cards. This information may have made people smile, but the rise in prices had considerable consequences on the budgets of Indian households, which also had to adapt.
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