Red Alert? Armed guards called to secure tomato sale in Madhya Pradesh

The tomato has become quite pricey these days Prices are known to breach Rs 100 mark is some places in the country, especially in Karnataka In some markets due to the tensions regarding the sale of the vegetable, security  guards have been deployed

The humble tomato was never counted among the so-called important vegetables in the market. If the price of onions or potatoes went up, it used to cause chaos, but seems like the tomato too has earned this distinction now.

Tomato prices have been skyrocketing in some places of the country like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and more. Things have come to such a pass in Indore in MP, that armed security guards were called in to oversee the sale of the tomato in the wholesale market.

The markets of Indore have reported thefts of the vegetable following the price rise. So the sellers have deployed security guards to see no one gets their hands on the precious vegetable without paying for it.

Well, thefts have been reported in other state markets as well. On July 20, tomatoes worth Rs 70,000 were stolen  from Mumbai’s Dahisar area. The price rise for the tomatoes is being attributed to the failure of crop and damage to the yield in some states.

Last year, tomatoes were thrown on the streets due to overproduction, and this is the reason why most of the farmers did not opt for tomato cultivation this year. Meanwhile, other states have also stopped exporting tomatoes as they did not harvest much due to drought. Improved production is expected to bring down prices well into next month.