The government today said in a statement that good and timely monsoon rains have greatly boosted the prospects of main horticulture crops, namely tomatoes, onions, and potatoes.
This should help in the moderation of their prices.
On tomatoes, the statement said that an assessment by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that in the ongoing Kharif, a higher acreage of 272,000 hectares has been targeted as against 267,000 last year.
The crop condition is good in the major producing areas of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and Kolar in Karnataka.
“In Kolar, the picking of tomatoes has started and will hit the market within a few days from now,” the statement added.
Based on feedback from district officials, it has been reported that tomato crop yields in Chittoor and Kolar are significantly better than last year.
Additionally, there has been a notable increase in Kharif tomato cultivation areas in the major growing states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
According to recent data from the Department of Consumer Affairs, the price of potatoes in Delhi’s wholesale markets on July 5 was approximately 67.35 per cent higher than the same day last year, while the price of onions was about 79.37 per cent higher compared to last year’s prices as of July 5.
The current wholesale prices of tomatoes in Delhi are slightly lower than they were a year ago.
However, data indicates that prices were high just a few weeks ago.
Onions
Regarding onions, the official statement indicates that there is a comfortable supply of onions in the domestic market, despite a slight decrease in onion production during the Rabi 2024 season compared to the previous year.
The onion crop is harvested in three seasons: Rabi in March-May; Kharif in September-November; and late Kharif in January-February.
The Rabi crop makes up 70 per cent of total production, while Kharif and late Kharif together make up 30 per cent.
Kharif onions help stabilize prices between Rabi and peak Kharif arrivals.
The statement said that the targeted area under Kharif onions this year is 361,000 hectares, which is around 27 per cent higher than last year.
The official statement said that in Karnataka, the top Kharif onion-producing state, sowing is completed in 30 per cent of its targeted area of 150,000 hectares, and sowing is making good progress in other major producing states.
It said that onions currently available in the market are from the Rabi 2024 crop, harvested during March-May 2024.
The estimated Rabi 2024 production of 19.1 million tonnes is sufficient to meet the domestic consumption of about 1.7 million tonnes per month, the statement said.
The government further added that the curbs on exports restricted at 100,000 tonnes per month are also helping in boosting supplies.
It added that dry weather during and after the Rabi harvest this year is also helping in lowering the storage loss of onions.
“Onion prices are stabilizing as the number of Rabi onions released in the market by farmers is increasing with higher mandi prices and the onset of monsoon rains, which increases the chances of storage loss due to high atmospheric moisture,” the statement added.
Potatoes
On potatoes, the government said that though the potato is essentially a Rabi crop, some potato is produced in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu in Kharif as well.
The Kharif potato harvest from September to November augments the availability in the market.
The official statement said that the area under Kharif potato this year is targeted to increase by 12 per cent over last year. It said that 27.32 million tonnes of potatoes were stored in cold storage this year, which is sufficient to meet the consumption demand.
“The prices of potatoes regulate the rate at which they are released from the cold storages during the storage period from March to December,” the statement said.
