Pakistan sees red as tomatoes sell for Rs 300 per kg

The tomato crisis in Pakistan have turned into a nightmare as the price of the red vegetable touched an all time high of Rs 300 per kg.

For the last few weeks, the price of the tomato have hovered around Rs 200-250 per kg and have now touched Rs 300, according to a BBC report.

In the midst of such vegetable drama, Pakistan still continues to stand by the decision of not importing any Indian tomatoes due to the strained border ties, Minister  for Food Security Sikandar Hayat Bosan said.

However, they are willing to import from Iran and Afghanistan rather than India. 

Muhammad Asif, committee vice chairman of Karachi’s ‘Sabzi Mandi’ is certain that the price is likely to go down after the imported tomatoes from Iran hit the markets.

“Once the new shipment comes [from there], tomato prices will go down to Rs100-120 in retail markets,” Asif said in a Geo TV report.

The government have blamed the recent showers in the country for destroying several tomato crops.

“The monsoon downpour in recent months severely harmed tomato crop across the country,” Asif said.

“Almost 50 percent of the production was missed, resulting in a gap between supply and demand countrywide,” he added.

Tomatoes are being sold at Rs 146 per kg in wholesale markets, however, in retail markets it has fumed up to Rs 200 per kg.