After some excruciating months of really high vegetable prices, it is once again affordable to have them on the dining table. Leading the glut is tomato that has seen an excess production of around 20 per cent this season.

“Largely grown in Nashik, Narayangaon and Sangamner, farmers have over 80,000 acres of land under tomato cultivation. In Nashik alone it is over 50,000 acres. In many places, they are throwing away tomatoes. Even the Mumbai market cannot accommodate so much,” said Shriram Gadve, a farmer and president of All India Vegetable Growers Association.

In the wholesale market, tomatoes are being sold at Rs 2 or Rs 2.5 per kg. In the retail market, it is in the range of Rs 6-8 per kg. “Prices crash even if there is two per cent excess production, this time the production is 20- 30 per cent in excess,” Gadve said.

With the exception of lime (at Rs 3 per piece) and garlic (Rs 60 per kg), prices of most vegetables have come down in the last fortnight to a month. Beans, that was sold for Rs 40 per kg in the retail market two months ago, is sold for less than Rs 8 per kg.

Cauliflower and carrots are available at around Rs 16-20 per kg in the retail market; snake gourd is at Rs 10-12 per kg; capsicum at Rs 22; coriander at Rs 10-12 per bunch and chillies at Rs 8 per kg.

However, retailers and farmers predict a steep rise in the prices of potatoes and onion in the next quarter. “People should be prepared. There has been a substantial reduction of potato crop because of late blight disease,” said Pratap Nikam, APMC trader. Growers said tracts of potatoes in Manchar and Koregaon tehsils in Satara have been affected.

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