Tomato traders flock to Solan

Due to a rapid rise in the prices of tomatoes in the plains, traders from Haryana, Punjab and Delhi are now heading for the Solan hills to buy the vegetable.

To meet the growing demand in the plains, for the past few days wholesalers are reportedly buying over 3,500 crates of tomato from Solan town market committees every day.

"Nearly the entire tomato crop arriving in the Solan market is being purchased by traders from the plains," said a local trader.

The wholesale price is between Rs 15-20 kg per kg, but in the retail market it is much higher. Traders sell the vegetable at a much higher price in the plains, where the crisis is continuing.

"This year, local farmers are profiting. But last year it was an entirely different story here as due to a heavy crop, prices of Solan tomatoes dropped to an all time low of 50 paise per kg causing huge losses to farmers," said a farmer.

Tomato, the main cash crop of Solan, is cultivated in 4000 hectares of land in this district, producing around 1.4 million tonnes every year.

It is called off-season vegetable because it is harvested at a time when the crop isn't ready in the plains.