Hyderabad: Tomato prices in Hyderabad have witnessed a continuous decline, with rates crashing by 80 percent in less than a month.
Last month, prices surged to as high as Rs 100 per kg. Currently, tomatoes are being sold at Rs 20 per kg.
Due to the price surge, sales volume has decreased drastically as people in Hyderabad opted for other vegetables instead of buying tomatoes.
The surge in tomato prices in Hyderabad was due to a supply-demand mismatch caused by crop damage following heavy rainfall in Telangana and other states. The intermittent rainfall led to heavy crop losses, resulting in a shortage of tomatoes arriving in the city.
Within a month, the supply-demand mismatch returned to normal, and tomato prices in Hyderabad and other districts cooled down.
Meanwhile, some restaurants and eateries that had started cutting down on the use of tomatoes in food preparation have returned to normal usage.
However, this is not the first time tomato prices have shot up. Earlier, they reached as high as Rs. 200 per kg.
It remains to be seen how much further the prices will decline, given that the Southwest Monsoon is not yet over. Heavy rainfall is expected in the coming days, which may affect tomato prices in Hyderabad and other districts across the country.
