A tomato vendor at Unit-I Daily Market in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 23: Tomato, a must have for every kitchen, is going beyond the reach of ordinary consumers with prices soaring to Rs 60-a-kg from Rs 30 a fortnight ago.

Traders apprehend further rise in its price because of short supply and high demand.

The supply from Karnataka, mainly Bangalore, one of the major growers of the tomato, has come under pressure because most of the states in the country depend on the southern state for their requirement. Traders hope for a drop in its price only after Id.

Jasaswini Mohapatra, a homemaker from Soubhagya Nagar, said: “Tomatoes are essential for every kitchen. Hence, the hike in its price has hit us hard.”

Santosh Kumar Sahu, a vegetable merchant at Unit-I Daily Market said: “When the supply is good, around 10 to 12 truck loads of tomatoes come to Bhubaneswar every day. But now, the number of trucks have come down to four to five.’’

However, he admitted that tomato prices leaping to Rs 60 within a fortnight was something that was happening in the city for the first time this year.

“Last year, the price of tomato had reached Rs 60-a-kg only for a short period of a week after the summer. During the rainy season or pre-winter days, tomato price hardly ever touch Rs 60 here,” he said.

Sources said yesterday the price per container supposed to carry 25 kgs of tomato at the wholesale mandi in Unit-I Daily Market was Rs 1,250. Though the containers are supposed to hold 25kg of tomato, about two to three kilograms of tomato get lost during transportation.

“When the vendor purchases a container at this high a price, he naturally sells tomato for Rs 60-a-kg keeping in mind losses that might take place in his shop,” said Sahu.

Odisha happens to be the fourth largest producer of tomatoes in the nation with a production of more than seven per cent of the national share. But, due to absence of any production in the state around this time of the year, there is no crop. The state is yet to take up tomato farming under controlled conditions.

S.R. Das, horticulture officer at the directorate of horticulture here, said: “Tomatoes cannot be stored in a cold storage for more than 30 days as they are highly perishable. But production in this season can ensure a smooth supply of the vegetable in the market. We have already started educating farmers on using the shed net houses to produce vegetables round the year.’’

Dillip Kumar Dora, professor of horticulture at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, said: “The technology of using shed net houses to produce winter vegetables should be properly explained to farmers so that Odisha can produce tomatoes in the off season as well.”