Much to the discomfort of consumers, retail tomato prices in the national capital and other metros have skyrocketed by up to 65 per cent to Rs 60-70 per kg in a fortnight due to crop damage in producing states.

Wholesale traders in Delhi attributed the rising price trend in tomato to tight supplies owing to the crop damage because of rains in Haryana and other producing states."More than 70 per cent of the tomato crop has been damaged due to excess rains followed by heat in Haryana, one of the key suppliers of the produce to Delhi," said Ashok Kaushik, President of the Tomato Merchants Association in Azadpur, Asia's largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, the central government said the price rise in tomato is a "seasonal phenomena" and it is keeping a close watch on the price movement.

Earlier BJP government has projected country's tomato production is estimated to be higher by 15 per cent at 187 lakh tonnes in 2016-17 crop year (July- June)...