Throughout the festive season, people were waiting for onion, tomato prices to fall, but the wait is not over. The rising prices of vegetables in the wedding season have increased expenses. The general public is constantly getting shocked.

Onion Price: Throughout the festive season, people kept waiting that the prices of onion, tomato would fall, but the wait was not over. The rising prices of vegetables in the wedding season have increased expenses. The general public is constantly getting shocked. The situation is that due to the rising prices of food items including onions and tomatoes, retail inflation went out of the purview of RBI in October. The situation is that in most parts of the country, onion has crossed 70 to 80 rupees. At the same time, the price of garlic has crossed Rs 400 a kg. Meanwhile, the tomato prices have decreased slightly, but the onion is still moving towards the seventh sky.

When will onions be cheaper

People are waiting for when the price of onion will get relief. According to a senior official of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, onion prices may see softening in a few days. In fact, onion prices are expected to fall after the arrival of Kharif crop in the market. Due to low onion yield in Rabi crop, onion supply was affected due to rain and floods, due to which onion prices have seen a big increase.

Tomato prices get relief at Rs 52/kg

The central government says that the price of tomatoes has come down by about 22 percent. According to the government, tomato prices have come down due to increased supply. Due to the decrease in the price of tomatoes in the market, the retail price is also coming down. The all-India average retail price of tomato on November 14 was Rs 52.35 per kg. This is 22.4 per cent lower than Rs 67.50 per kg on October 14. During the same period, prices in Azadpur mandi declined by about 50 per cent from Rs 5,883 per quintal to Rs 2,969 per quintal due to increased arrivals of tomato.

Similar reduction in mandi prices has also been reported from benchmark markets like Pimpalgaon, Madanapalle and Kolar. According to the Agriculture Department estimates, the total annual production of tomatoes in 2023-24 is 213.20 lakh tonnes. This is 4 per cent higher than 204.25 lakh tonnes in 2022-23. Though tomato production takes place throughout the year, there is seasonal variation in the production areas and quantity of production.

Impact on vegetable prices

Adverse weather conditions and minor disruption in supply also have a significant impact on tomato prices. The jump in tomato prices in October was due to excessive and prolonged rains in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The general seasonal effect of tomato production in different regions of India shows that major tomato producing states take place in October and November. However, due to the short duration of crop cultivation and multiple breaks of tomato crop, there is constant availability of tomatoes in the market.

According to the central government, arrivals have decreased in major tomato centres of Madanapalle and Kolar, but prices have come down due to seasonal arrival from states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. This seasonal arrival is filling the supply gap of tomato across the country.