PUNE: Wholesale prices of tomatoes have come down by 10-20% at the APMC’s market yard in Gultekdi owing to excess arrivals from Karnataka and other parts of Maharashtra over the last two days. Tomatoes were selling for Rs10-Rs20 per kg in the wholesale market on Tuesday.
In the retail markets, the kitchen staple was being sold at Rs40-60 per kg, depending on its size and quality, as compared to Rs45-70 per kg price it was drawing last week.
Dutta Kalamkar, head of the vegetable section in Gultekdi, said, “The intake of tomatoes has been high for the last few days. On Sunday alone, we got around 16,000 crates as against an average of 9,000 crates. Each crate contains 20kg of tomatoes. As a result, its rates dropped during the auction. This scenario persisted on Monday and Tuesday too. The prices have come down in the range of 10-20%.”
Kalamkar said the prices of brinjal and cabbage have also come down in the range of 5%-10% in the last two days. “We are getting vegetable supply from Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Therefore, the rates of all vegetables are largely stable. It will remain so at least for the next few weeks,” he said.
Even the prices of leafy vegetables have declined in the wholesale and retail markets due to their excess arrival, APMC officials confirmed.
In the last two days, the market has got over 2 lakh bunches of coriander and close to 1 lakh bunches of fenugreek, the officials said. “A bunch of coriander is now being auctioned in the range of Rs2-5,” said an official from the market yard.
Having said that, the rates of all vegetables in the retail or local mandis vary, the APMC officials said, adding that they were being sold 30-40% more than the wholesale rates.
“If you buy vegetables in the wholesale market, you will save good money and also get fresh supply. Vendors who directly sell in the housing societies charge high rates. Often they charge their customers double the price,” said Kishor Raskar, an IT professional from the Hadapsar area.
Dhananjay Jagadle, a resident of Aundh, said, “Vendors selling vegetables at local retail markets charge high, but people are ready to pay the extra amount as they often struggle to find time to visit wholesale markets. I prefer buying vegetables from the farmers’ markets once a week to save money.”
