Pricey tomatoes: Kolar APMC makes hay, collects Rs 1.24 crore cess for July

With tomato prices soaring to stratospheric heights, the Kolar agricultural produce market committee (APMC) collected a record cess of Rs 1.24 crore for the month of July.

This is an all-time record of cess collected in a month at the Kolar APMC, touted to be the Asia's second biggest tomato market.

The APMC is collecting a cess of 60 paise for every transaction of Rs 100.

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In July alone, the Kolar market yard saw 3.12 lakh quintal of tomato arrivals. As much as 20.83 lakh tomato boxes, with each box weighing 15 kg, were sold in auction in July.

In the corresponding month last year, the APMC yard had received three times more arrivals but the cess collected then was far less, owing to the price stability.

On Monday, the price of a 15-kg box of tomato went up to Rs 2,700 in the auction. A total of 77 boxes were sold at CMD Mandi traders at the record price. The average price of a box hovered around Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500.

It's a win-win preposition for all stakeholders - farmers, traders, commission agents and the APMC. Everyone is reaping benefits of tomato price rise. The prevailing situation is expected to continue for August, Vijayalakshmi, secretary, Kolar APMC, told DH.