 "tomato price jump, tomato price hike")
The steep rise in tomato prices has driven people along the India-Nepal border in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand to go across the border into Nepal to buy tomatoes there, The Times of India (ToI) has reported.
People living in Dharchula and Banbasa, near the border, are going to Nepal to get tomatoes as they cost almost half the price. Tomatoes are selling for upwards of Rs 120 per kg in India, whereas in Nepal, they cost Nepali Rs 100 to Rs 110, which comes at around Rs 70-75 per kg in Indian rupees, the report said.
A resident of Darchula in Nepal told the newspaper that vegetable vendors are making double the usual money.
Nepal reaping the benefits of crop diversification
Nepal's farmers have noted the pattern in vegetable price rise in India. For the past few years, the government in Nepal has also taken steps to support farmers to "diversify their crops" as it has pushed farmers to switch from grains to vegetables.
Farmers in Nepal now grow seasonal and non-seasonal vegetables, including tomatoes, and are now benefitting from the high demand in India, the report added.
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In addition to tomatoes, these farmers are also cultivating cauliflower and spinach and supplying them to Indian markets when the demand is high, and the price is good, ToI quoted Kamal Joshi, a vegetable businessman in Nepal.
The exchange rate also plays a key role in Indians going to Nepal to buy tomatoes. Nepali traders prefer payment in Indian rupees as it means more Nepali rupees for them, another Nepali resident told ToI.
Speaking on the matter, Pithoragarh DM Reena Joshi said that people of both sides cross the border to make purchases and get items of daily use in limited quantities. Security agencies check these purchases, she added.
