India’s tomato prices surge over 300%, sparking theft and turmoil

Think of all the tomatoes anyone can grow in their gardens or even in pots on a balcony. My garden is loaded and I grew it all from seeds I collected from a store-bought tomato last year. The Swiss have a milk, butter, and cheese shortage, and a year or two ago it was a mustard shortage in France, a spice I could grow in my garden (actually thought to before that shortage, but never did). Remember the high egg prices here? So, are we paying attention yet?

Flooding has destroyed crops in India, the world’s second-largest tomato producer, where tomatoes are “an absolute essential” for consumers.

India is facing a tomato crisis as prices have skyrocketed more than 300% due to extreme weather conditions.

Tomato prices surged 341% year-to-date, from 24.68 rupees per kg to 108.92 rupees per kg as of July 11, data from the Department of Consumer Affairs showed.

. . . India is the second-largest producer of tomatoes in the world, and alongside onions, tomatoes are “an absolute essential” to the daily lives of Indian consumers, said Damien Yeo, food and drink analyst at BMI, a Fitch Solutions research unit.

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ETA: I could have put this in the Fragile Earth forum as a climate change issue, but I firmly believe that we must adapt to the changing climate, not adapt the climate to us. Climate's going to change no matter what the control freaks think that they can do to control it.

Well, we can't help them here in MI.
Losing to much actual farm land, to solar panel farms.

Seriously though, how hard is it, to not put all your "eggs" in one basket? Why not have other crops, better suited for bad weather, just in case?

Mother nature has been throwing us curve balls since we started planting crops.

And we have learned nothing but how to poison the ground.

Again, we are idiots.

4.41 times as expensive as they originally were. Dayum. I never knew tomatoes were a big thing in india.

Monsoons are predictable, are they not?
Isn't hydrology a science India is aware of?

Not to be a smart ass, but tomatoes can be grown hydroponically and rice is grown in flooded fields. Seems like they should have been prepared and have a situation like this covered. Somehow I think they must believe that weather modification and zero carbon emissions are the best answers coming from "the science".

Lets all use our intelligence here. The Monsoon season is a regular event in this part of the World, it regularly causes massive floods. Now they are crying at loss of life. Now use your intelligence, if it were you and you lived in a place that there is a regular cycle of a dry season (as that's what precedes a Monsoon) and then a heavy rainy season (Monsoon) would you not try and mitigate the effects? Naah, just sit in your mud hut and allow it to happen to you.

AND it has absolutely NOTHING to do with climate change, so stop bringing that up.

Look into tumbling tom tomatoes if you want massive production in very limited spaces. They can yield 4 pounds of tomatoes per plant and grow in hanging baskets.

I know I posted about wheat some time ago and now it has come full circle. A loaf of cheap bread here is over $4.00

I don't use much but that's not the point. And it seems that when prices go up it takes a long time for them to ever come down to their original price if ever, even though the reasons for the increase have long since become obsolete and for food, it's a quick turnaround.

Now, in India's defense, they have a lot of people so food staple availability there can be a bit more precarious. They've also had crop troubles for years since Monsanto has given them bad seed in the past. But is wasn't just the monsoons, it was the extraordinary heat and drought before hand. Much hotter and dryer than normal. And it isn't only India.

The situation in Span and Morocco also led to a similar shortage in Ireland, where the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) cited a 'broken' food supply chain and soaring input costs as factors negatively impacting the horticultural sector.

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In her speech to the National Farmers' Union (NFU) Conference in February, president Minette Batters noted that "production of salad ingredients like tomatoes and cucumbers are expected to fall to the lowest levels since records began in 1985" as a result of heightened energy costs.

And in the US, we had a heck of a time this past year with fresh vegetables for our schools. Our school was often without lettuce and other fresh produce as US Foods was having to find other sources while the present ones were shifting their growing areas to accommodate demand. We weathered through it no problem but we have a lot of other options. Some people don't. Western culture is so used to using processed foods we forget that much of the world still has mostly ONLY fresh foods to choose from.

Fortunately the issue is temporary and they will most likely survive none the worse for the wear.

They went up to 60 cents a pound? They are more expensive here in California. Good, sweet vine ripe tomatoes are at least 1 dollar a pound here mid-summer at the farmer's market.

This was a flood. A natural disaster issue that could happen anywhere, at any time.

Sure, it make for a rough time this year, but next year should make up for it, just like what goes on everywhere else on this planet.

We have an on going annual history of some part of the population getting screwed, and we all just hope that this time, it is not going to be us.

I feel bad for them, and all nations can help by helping to supply what we can to take away part of the hardship.