What happened to the "tomato chaos" in India?

Who would have thought? A small tomato messed up the whole of India.

Affected by heat wave, abnormal rainfall and other factors, Indian crops suffered heavy losses, resulting in a large-scale reduction of tomato production. After several days of heavy rain, the transportation crisis further led to the seasonal shortage of tomatoes.

At present, the price of tomatoes in India has soared seven times, and more and more Indians are forced to kick tomatoes out of their baskets because of lack of money.

According to the data of Indian food department, in July 16, the retail price of tomatoes in New Delhi, India was Rs/kg 178 (about RMB 16 yuan), which was seven times the price of Rs 16 (about RMB 2.3 yuan). By contrast, the price of gasoline in Delhi is about 96 rupees per liter (about RMB 8.4 yuan).

The Indian people said that they had never seen such a high price, and low-income families could not afford it.

You know, tomatoes, onions and potatoes are the three main dishes on the Indian table. Tomatoes are an indispensable ingredient in the daily life of Indians. The price increase of tomatoes has brought a burden to many Indian families and even caused family discord.

The price of tomatoes has soared seven times, even more expensive than gasoline. This makes many farmers who grow tomatoes become millionaires, but it also causes some farmers to be killed.

On July 8, a truck loaded with tons of tomatoes in India was attacked by several men. They took the driver's money and the tomatoes. Indian farmer Darini said that tomatoes worth 2.5 million rupees (about 220,000 yuan) were stolen from her farm overnight.

In addition, in Anamaya, Andhra Pradesh, India, two farmers guarding tomato crops were murdered in just seven days. The local police said that on the night of July 16, farmer Reddy was strangled while sleeping in a tomato garden, while he was nursing tomatoes. After the case, Reddy's family was shocked and the local police had been sent to the scene to investigate. Earlier, another 62-year-old farmer who planted tomatoes was also found dead in the village.

The shortage of tomatoes has even affected McDonald's stores in India. Due to the soaring price, short supply and poor quality of tomatoes, McDonald's removed tomatoes from the menu and stopped using tomatoes in other dishes such as hamburgers.

Nowadays, the sharp fluctuation of tomato prices has led to an increase in public dissatisfaction. Laghall, a member of India's populist party, said that out-of-control tomato prices indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party government has failed to adjust the prices of basic commodities, and out-of-control inflation will deal a new blow to ordinary Indians.

The Indian government blamed the price of tomatoes on the rainy season, which disrupted the transportation and distribution during the production season, but in recent months, the prices of local daily foods such as milk and spices have also continued to rise.

According to the report, the Indian government has taken measures to control the price of tomatoes and provided subsidies to sell tomatoes in various regions, but it still cannot compete with the soaring prices. In order to control the price of tomatoes, the Indian government instructed the national agricultural cooperatives to buy tomatoes from major producing areas and distribute them to towns that are extremely short of tomatoes at discounted prices.