A few months ago the price of the tomatoes skyrocketed within a span of a few days.
JOHI: A few months ago the price of the tomatoes skyrocketed within a span of a few days. The price was beyond the control of the department concerned. This is a constant problem even though we already have an act well in place to control prices and ensure its stability within the country. Act Number XXIX OF 1977 called the Price Control and prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act 1977 prevents the artificial rise in prices of basic commodities for profiteering. Unfortunately, our departments have failed to implement the act across the country.
Yesterday, in Johi 2 kilograms of tomatoes were being sold only for 50 rupees. Curious to find out the reason behind such a relatively low price I inquired further. In response to a question, a farmer seller said that “the produce is in abundance and there is no demand in the market; we have to sell it at any cost to minimise loss since tomatoes cannot be stored.” The woes of the farmers due to unstable prices are quite high.
Just last month we imported tomatoes from Iran and Afghanistan and unfortunately without a proper storage plan. I urge the authorities to control prices.
Fahad Rind
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2020.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
