INSIGHT: SOUTH ASIA - Indian consumers seeing red as tomato prices surge, food

Summary

IMPLICATIONS However, ongoing food inflation and supply shortages • Price surge hurts low-income households and food are recurring events in the country, highlighting businesses the growing need for long-term, climate-resilient India is the world’s second-largest producer of tomatoes agricultural planning. [...] But in June and July, tomato prices IN BRIEF soared in different parts of the country, reaching Cyclical heat waves and flooding have contributed up to C$1.61 (100 Indian rupees) per kilogram. [...] The combination of heat waves and high impacted low-income households, which make up rainfall in these regions has resulted in flash floods over 69 per cent of the population and have an average the last few months, which has been disastrous for the monthly household income of C$388.52 (24,000 Indian cultivation of staple vegetables like onions, potatoes, rupees). [...] Subsequently, the top tomato-producing have removed tomatoes from their menus altogether states, particularly in the northern belt of the country, in several northern, central, and eastern regions in have run into production shortages, causing food India as supply shortages and concerns about produce prices to soar. [...] Value-chain development, income assistance scheme Farmers of staple vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, The Union Agriculture Ministry is currently in talks with and potatoes, have borne the brunt of cyclical heat the Union Food Processing Industries Ministry to take waves and flash floods since February, enduring over and implement the latter’s Tomato-Onion-Potato recurring patterns of shortage.