Madanapalle: Amid huge decrease in the volume of yield being brought to the market, high-quality tomatoes touched all time high in Andhra Pradesh's Madanapalle market after it went on sale for an unprecedented Rs 168 per kg in Annamaiya district on Wednesday, the market yard officials said. Madanapalle Wholesale Market caters to the entire need of the vegetable and fruit needs of the State.
According to some farmers, selling a 30 kg tomato box can fetch them enough money to buy one gram of gold. The price of one kg of second quality tomatoes rivalled the price of one kilogram of apples. The rising tomato prices are causing anxiety among people as they continue their upwards run setting new record highs every day. The decrease in tomato yield across the country is attributed to the recent heavy rains.
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Market yard officials believe that the reduced yield is due to a combination of heavy rains across multiple states and a virus that has affected the crops. In particular, on Wednesday, only 361 metric tonnes of tomatoes were brought to the Madanapalle market yard, highlighting a significant drop in yield compared to the previous week, due to a huge dip in tomato harvest. Usually, the Asia's largest market will handle 1,500 metric tonnes of tomato per day.
The soaring prices of tomatoes have even led to an increase in the number of tomato theft cases. Recently, an unidentified helmet-wearing man stole 75 kg of tomatoes from a market in the Sangareddy district of Telangana. Similarly, 400 kgs of tomatoes were stolen from a farmer's house in Pune.
