Yes, the tomato is red, and its current price is so scathing and bitter that, in addition to making one cry, it causes one’s stomach to turn and one’s tongue to ache for the tomato’s acidic, sweet flavour. And just like aeroplane passengers soar high above the planet, tomato costs have also increased beyond what is affordable.
Source: India Times
The output shortage and high costs are true, regardless of whether you blame them on a lack of rain, an abundance of rain, insect assaults that cause the illness leaf curl, or other factors. Incorporate the involvement of hoarders and middlemen who are looking to profit quickly while this perishable resource is still available!
The cost of this culinary essential has increased above the century mark and is currently hovering at Rs 150 per kilogramme, almost defying the law of gravity. So much so that restaurants have reduced or completely stopped using it. According to reports, McDonald’s has discontinued using tomatoes in their meals due to their high cost and poor quality.
The whole tomato crop on a three-acre property belonging to a farmer in Karnataka’s Halebid near Hassan was taken overnight. A truck carrying tomatoes that was headed for a wholesale market in Tamil Nadu was kidnapped at knifepoint. The latest tidbit of information is that a vegetable vendor in Varanasi has hired two bouncers to protect his stock of tomatoes and deter obnoxious patrons from haggling over the exorbitant costs. Akhilesh Yadav, the president of the Samajwadi Party, remarked that tomatoes require Z-Plus security protection, maybe in jest. One can’t help but wonder what all the hullabaloo and hoopla is about with an otherwise unremarkable fruit that is being utilised as a vegetable.
Source: WION
There have been instances in recent memory when tomato prices had fallen so low that farmers, rather than selling tomatoes below cost, had simply thrown the sacks of tomatoes on the sides of the roads or simply abandoned them on the plants in the field, allowing them to wither away or serve as cattle feed. Of plants, tomatoes seemed the most human-eager, fragile, and prone to rot, wrote John Updike concisely.
Tomato plants are similar to people in that they develop fast, have delicate and short-lived lifestyles, and require strong support for their weak stems in order to survive. But while they are still around, tomatoes provide man juice and flavour; can man say the same for himself?
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