Ahead of the upcoming monsoon season, residents are facing a sharp increase in vegetable prices, putting a significant strain on household budgets. While the cost of most vegetables has surged by 50 to 60 per cent, tomato prices have more than doubled in a span of 10 to 12 days, hitting their highest levels of the season. Just over a week ago, tomatoes were sold at Rs 20 -25 per kg in the city’s wholesale market - Mahatma Fule Vegetable Market. However, driven by a sudden supply crunch, wholesale rates have plummeted upward to Rs 40-50 per kg.

 

The impact is felt even more acutely by everyday consumers in the retail markets, where tomatoes are currently sold at a price ranging from Rs 70 to Rs 80 per kg. Wholesale traders attribute the spike to a widening gap between local demand and arriving shipments. “Right now, only two to three truckloads of tomatoes are arriving in the wholesale markets daily, against a demand of six to seven trucks,” Ram Mahajan,

 

one of the wholesellers told The Hitavada on Friday. The shortage in the city is mainly due to a transition in regional harvesting cycles. Farmers in Nagpur and adjoining districts have exhausted their current yields and are now busy preparing fields for the next sowing season. As a result, the city is entirely reliant on suppliers from parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to fulfill local demand, with high transportation costs and limited regional volumes driving up the final price tag. Market experts predict that vegetable prices may remain volatile until monsoon rains stabilise and fresh crop cycles begin entering the market.