GUWAHATI, Dec 8 - Tomato prices have refused to come down and horticulturists say it might take another three to four weeks for the prices to cool off when the local varieties come to the market. Tomato prices have remained firm around Rs 80 a kg for more than a month now.
Besides tomato, prices of some other winter vegetables had also shot up, but they have started to come down now. �Cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, capsicum etc., are winter vegetables. The Rabi crop season starts in October and lasts till March. But this year, untimely heavy rains have taken a toll on the winter vegetables,� Jayanta Kalita, scientist at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kahikuchi, told The Assam Tribune.
He said the tomato crop is very sensitive to water. �There had been heavy rains between September-end and mid-October. This is the time when the cultivation of tomato begins. Normally, the tomato crop is grown early and the products are available in the markets by November-end. However, most of the crop was destroyed in the rains and farmers had to wait till the rains stopped to cultivate it again,� Kalita said.
Tomatoes now sold in markets are from protected cultivation areas like in pockets of Kharupetia, Shillong etc. �A few farmers cultivate it under sheds. Those have survived,� he said.