Tomato prices are currently at an all-time high. The wholesale price of the indispensable vegetable is Rs180 per kg, while retail customers pay Rs220 per kg. The price has soared, but not because tomatoes are in short supply in Nepal. There is plenty to go around. Nepali farmers grow tomatoes on 22,600 hectares and produce more than 432,000 tons annually, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
The scarcity is in India, where prices have reached unreal heights. Tomatoes now cost more than chickens down south. This has got Nepali traders scrambling to export tomatoes to India. According to media reports, the price of tomato was IRs203 (Rs324) per kg in major Indian cities on July 25, almost triple from last year.
[ Rs100 = € 0.69 ]
Source: asianews.network