82% Paid Over Rs 100/Kg for Tomatoes Even After Govt Intervention, 15% Stopped Buying Veggie: Survey

After government intervention in tomato price fury in the country, where it cost more than 1 litre of petrol, a survey conducted by LocalCircles has shown that many households still bought the vegetable for more than Rs 100 per kg in their recent purchase.

When asked about their purchase history of tomatoes recently, out of 9,337 responses, only 7% of respondents indicated that they bought government subsided tomatoes at Rs 80-90 /kg. Of the remaining, 45% indicated that they last paid Rs 100-150/ kg; 25% of households surveyed paid Rs 150-200/ kg; 7% paid Rs 200-250/kg; and 5% paid over Rs 250/kg. However, 7% of respondents paid under Rs 100/kg and 4% did not give a clear response.

The survey had asked the respondents if they bought tomatoes in the last one week, and 85% out of 10,985 said they did purchase the vegetable while 15% indicated that they have stopped buying tomatoes lately, suggesting the prevailing market prices.

A comparison of the surveys done since June 27 shows while 18% had indicated that they were paying over Rs 100/ kg for tomatoes, by July 14, the percentage had shot up to 87%. Now, due to the government intervention, there has been a marginal relief, with 82% of households surveyed having to pay over Rs 100/kg for tomatoes.

As of July 18, most online platforms show tomatoes priced between Rs 130 and 230/kg. So, for now if the government wants that prices for consumers to stay low, it may have to expand its subsidised tomato sales programme to many more cities and districts and even evaluate import of tomatoes till the supply situation normalises.

The survey received over 10,000 responses from household consumers located in 304 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 46% respondents were from tier 1, 33% from tier 2 and 21% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.