The prices of Onions and tomatoes, which were subjected to high volatility in 2021, have found a special mention in this year’s Economic Survey. The document has highlighted the ‘Seasonality and irregularity in the retail prices of tomato and onion’.
According to the survey, “Tomato prices spiked after the end of September 2021 owing to crop damage and delay in arrival of produce in mandi because of unseasonal heavy rains in producing states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Pressure on tomato prices was further exacerbated due to disruption of tomato supply by heavy rains in producing states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.”
In November 2021, the prices of tomatoes touched Rs 100 per kg. Onion prices have also remained volatile for the past few months.
For Onions, on the other hand, the Survey said, “The seasonal component is found to put downward pressure (negative values in Figure 1D) on prices coinciding with the Rabi harvest period, and upward pressure (positive values) in other months, reaching peak in December.”
