New Delhi, July 21 (IANS): The central government on Friday informed Parliament that tomato prices are expected to come down with the increase in the arrival of new crops from Nasik, Naryangoan and Aurangabad belt in Maharashtra and also from Madhya Pradesh.
In a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for consumer affairs Ashwini Choubey said that tomatoes have been disposed of initially at the retail price of INR 90 per kg which has been reduced to INR 80 per kg from July 16 and further reduced to INR 70 per kg from July 20.
The current increase in tomato prices may incentivise farmers to grow more tomato crops which are expected to stabilise the prices in coming months, the minister replied.
Choubey further said that the consumer affairs department monitors the daily prices of 22 essential food commodities, including tomatoes.
In order to check the current increase in prices of tomatoes and make them available to consumers at affordable prices, the government has started the procurement of tomatoes under the price stabilisation fund and is making them available at a highly subsidised rate to consumers.
The National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) are continuously procuring tomatoes from mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and making them available at affordable prices in major consuming centres in Delhi-NCR, Bihar and Rajasthan among other places after subsidising the price to the consumers, he added.