Ramaraj, a wholesale tomato trader from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has been camping in Kolar in south Karnataka, which has now turned into a bustling centre for tomato procurement for the entire country after the crop failed in Maharashtra and elsewhere. But he is yet to make significant purchases, given the unprecedented price of the produce in the Kolar market. A 15 kg box of tomatoes was sold at ₹2,200 on July 11 at the yard, which traders believe is the highest ever since the market’s inception.
At the Kolar yard, buyers come from across the country. They have been camping here for over a month now, procuring tomatoes for states as far as West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, apart from neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Explained | Why are tomato prices still high?
