Chhattisgarh: Pricey tomato now finds space in sweet stall

Raipur: The escalating price of tomatoes has made the vegetable share space ‘proudly’ with sweets in shops.

A sweet stall owner in the industrial town of Korba in Chhattisgarh was seen displaying tomatoes along with Rasgolla, Gulab Jamoon, Cham Cham and other sweets in the de-freezers of his shop for sale.

“The market price of tomato is exorbitant”, he tells the consumers visiting his stall.

A video of the sweet stall owner Shaji Bhai selling tomatoes in his shop has gone viral on social media.

Shaji has attracted more curious onlookers than buyers to his shop since he started selling tomatoes along with other sweets in his shop, Naresh Mishra who visited the stall on Friday, said.

Like other states, tomato prices have skyrocketed in Chhattisgarh also.

The commodity is selling at prices ranging from Rs 150 a kilo to Rs 200 a kilo at various places in the state, Govind Patel, one of the leading tomato producers of Chhattisgarh, told this newspaper.

The farmer, based at Durg in the state, said that the price of tomato has started shooting up since the last four months and is yet to come down.

The price of tomato is expected to fall in September when the crop is harvested, he said.

Chhattisgarh produces around 3,75,000 tons of tomato annually which is three times the state’s demand.

Durg district is the largest producer of tomato in Chhattisgarh.

The state yields two tomato crops annually in September-March, Dr Bhupen Pandey, additional director in state horticulture department told this newspaper.

Transplantation of the crop has already begun and the first tomato crop of the year is expected to be harvested in September, he added.

The tomato yield per hectare in Chhattisgarh ranges from 15 tonnes to 20 tonnes.

Chhattisgarh exports tomatoes to different states and other countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan, according to Mr Patel.

Like in other tomato-producing states, tomato crop was damaged in the outgoing season due to rains leading to skyrocketing of the price of the commodity, Dr Pandey said.