With prices of the onion and tomato constantly going up every day, it is giving a tough time to not only the domestic consumers, but to hoteliers all over.
In Chittoor town, the prices of these two essential commodities stood at Rs. 35 and Rs. 80 respectively on Thursday. The tomato market yards in Madanapalle and Palamaner which witnessed scenes of farmers abandoning their produce outside the yards due to steep fall in prices a few months ago, are currently running with low stocks.
Drastic fall in the production levels is attributed to failure of rains and uncongenial farming climate. Similarly, the farmers have kept exporting their produce to the neighbouring Tamil Nadu since a month, leading to skyrocketing of the prices in the domestic market.
Onion price which remained at Rs. 16 early last month has doubled. Previously there used to be three varieties of the onion with three different prices, but for the past week only one variety is seen at the markets. Most consumers are returning with small quantities of onion, while the tomatoes are untouched by the middle class consumers.
Some housewives maintained that till the tomato prices come down, they would increase the quantum of tamarind juice in cooking the dishes. They said that even on earlier occasions, the price of tomato did not cross Rs. 60, but this time it has gone out of reach for the common man. This phenomenon has brought perceptible change in various dishes in the hotel industry.
Officials’ plans Meanwhile, a senior official of the district marketing wing said that plans were ready to procure about 20 tonnes of onion from Maharashtra, for subsidised sale at Rs. 26 a kg at the Rythu Bazars in Chittoor and Tirupati. The public say that the administration should also concentrate on tackling the tomato prices too.
