Government tells NAFED, NCCF to procure tomatoes from southern states

New Delhi, July 12

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The Centre on Wednesday directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) to immediately procure tomatoes from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Following the disruption in the supply chain from Himachal Pradesh (HP), the prices of tomatoes have increased exponentially in the north region, forcing the Centre to step in.

As of Wednesday, vendors were selling tomatoes for Rs 240 per kg in national Capital. At present, the arrivals in Delhi-NCR are mainly from Himachal Pradesh and some quantity comes from Kolar in Karnataka. In Punjab too, tomatoes are being sold above Rs 200 per kg in many districts.

According to the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution, tomatoes are produced in 19 states across India (in varying quantities).