Tomato prices swing from very high to almost worthless. Why, and how do I time my sales?
Tomato (tamatar) rate crash - why do prices fall so much and when to sell?
KKrishnappa7mo ago · 350 views
6 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓7mo ago
Tomato is famously volatile because it is perishable and cannot be stored long, so when many regions harvest together the market floods and prices collapse, sometimes below picking and transport cost; then a weather shock or short supply spikes them again. You cannot hold fresh tomato like onion or potato, so timing is about staggering plantings rather than storing. Stagger sowing dates and pick at the right maturity to spread your harvest across weeks instead of one glut. Track modal rates on Agmarknet and major markets like Kolar and Madanapalle, and sell to whichever market or distant city is paying more after deducting transport. Good grading, firm long keeping hybrids, and exploring processing or value addition reduce the pain of crash periods. Verify the live mandi rate before you load.
NNagaraj6mo ago
I now stagger my planting in three lots instead of one. Even if one lot hits a crash, another usually catches a better rate. Putting everything in one harvest is too risky with tomato.
MManjappa6mo ago
Picking at the right maturity gives you a little room. Slightly firm fruit holds a couple of days, so on a crash day I can wait or send it further to a city market instead of dumping it at the local rate.
HHanumantha6mo ago
Kolar and Madanapalle do not always pay the same on a given day. I check both on the portal and call a commission agent before deciding where to send the load, since the rate gap can be more than the extra transport.
BByregowda6mo ago
Do not expand just because last season the rate was sky high. That is exactly when half the district plants extra tomato and the next season crashes. I keep my area steady and stagger it instead.
SSiddaraju5mo ago
Even in a crash, graded firm fruit found buyers when soft mixed lots got refused. So I do not stop grading on a bad day, the clean boxes still moved at a better rate than the unsorted ones.