THE GREAT TOMATO SHORTAGE IN INDIA

IF you are going to India soon, don’t plan on having tomatoes with your meals.

At least, not for the foreseeable future!

That is because the great tomato shortage is continuing, as a result of crop failures caused by both dreadful floods and scorching heat.

Production has fallen dramatically in one of the world’s largest tomato-growing countries.

The price of what is available has soared by about 400 per cent and has become costlier than gas.

The shortage is a national crisis of sorts.

Families and restaurants are grinding it out without the hugely popular food item.

Fast-food places like Burger King and McDonald’s have been forced to take the ingredient off their serving items.

McDonald’s posted a sign that read: “Despite our best efforts, we were not able to get adequate quantities of tomatoes that pass our world-class stringent quality checks.

“Hence, for the time being, we are forced to serve our products without tomatoes.”

Burger King took action “due to unpredictable conditions on the quality and quantity of tomato crops.”

Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka are major tomato-producing regions, with thousands of acres of the fruit.

In late June, the Government held a Tomato Grand Challenge Hackathon in Delhi aimed at obtaining ideas on combating rising prices.

The Department of Consumer Affairs recently asked agricultural cooperatives to buy tomatoes from top-producing areas and have them sold in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities.

In some areas, the shortage led to crimes, with reports of the skyrocketing prices causing turmoil.

Some transportation trucks were hijacked, and there have been stealing from fields.

In several places, shopkeepers hired bouncers to stop consumers from haggling over prices.

The United Nations has projected that “climate-related risks to agriculture and food security in Asia will progressively escalate.”

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Kumar Choubey told Parliament last week that prices are expected to come down with production from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Choubey did not provide a timeline.

There have been some imports from Nepal.

Many families and restaurants have opted for short-term alternatives.