Vegetable prices crash up to 80% since January, deepening farm distress

Pune|Kolkata: Vegetable prices have plunged since January, worsening farm distress even as consumers get relief. Potatoes are down 40%, onions 50% and tomatoes up to 80%, driven by a supply glut and peak harvest arrivals.

Among benchmark wholesale markets, potatoes trade near ₹4/kg in Azadpur, onions at ₹10-11/kg in Lasalgaon, and tomatoes about ₹7/kg in Pimpalgaon. Staples have also eased, with wheat down about 10% and rice 5-6%. The declines are being driven by excess production, weak export demand, LPG shortages and heavy arrivals during the harvest season, pushing prices to levels farmers say are below cost, even as they help offset inflationary pressures from costlier imported commodities amid the West Asia conflict.

While the war in West Asia has diminished export demand for onions, creating a domestic glut at the peak harvest time, the LPG crisis has substantially cut the consumption of tomatoes, a key ingredient in various curries at restaurants. “Demand for tomatoes from hotels and restaurants, which had started falling from end-February due to the LPG crisis, has almost completely stopped this week, pulling down prices 40% in the last month,” said Ashok Koshik, president, Azadpur Tomato Traders’ Association.

Higher availability of desi tomatoes in different states has also reduced demand for the vegetable from major producing states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.