Nepal ready to supply tomatoes to India to ease soaring prices, seeks easier access to market

Nepal is all set and geared up to address the soaring tomato prices In India by offering bulk exports on a long-term basis However, it seeks easy market access and essential facilities as prerequisites for this to happen. The assurance from Nepal follows a statement by the Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Reasons for Import

The Finance Minister disclosed that India has been importing tomatoes from Nepal due to record-high prices caused by supply disruptions from heavy rains. The high retail price of around Rs 242 per kilogram has led India to import tomatoes for the first time amid supply disruptions from heavy rains.

Conditions presented by Nepal  

Nepal is keen to export vegetables, especially tomatoes, to India over the long term However, this endeavour is contingent upon India providing straightforward market access and necessary facilities, according to Shabnam Shivakoti, the spokesperson for Nepal’s Agriculture Ministry.

While Nepal has initiated tomato exports to India via official channels in the past week, the quantities remain modest. Plans for large-scale exports are still in progress.

“If we are provided with easy access to Indian markets, then Nepal can export a huge number of tomatoes to India, said Binaya Shrestha, the Deputy Director at Kalimati Fruits and the vegetable market development board.

Tomato Farming in Nepal

Tomatoes are grown abundantly in the Kathmandu Valley districts comprising Kathmandu itself, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, exceeding local demand. Though some tomatoes from Kathmandu are being unofficially exported to India, Shrestha acknowledged that a recent trend had seen substantial exports through informal challenges causing shortages and price spikes in the local market.

Exported tomatoes sent to India through unofficial routes soared to 70-90,000kgs daily and fetched up to 150 per kg, according to Badri Shreshta, a major tomato farmer and grower in Kathmandu.

He grows 2000 to 3000kg of tomatoes every alternate day from his farm in the Lalitpur District. He also claimed to have exported 40,000 tomatoes grown on his farm over the past one-month period to India through unofficial channels.

Nepal has also appealed to Indian authorities from Quarantine and related facilities to export not just tomatoes but peas and green peers as well.

India’s Response

In response to Nepal’s efforts, India has included certain Nepalese vegetable items, including tomatoes, in its quarantine list, facilitating exports. The Agriculture Minister of Nepal, Beduram Bhushal, held discussions on facilitating Nepalese agricultural products, including tomatoes to India with his Indian counterpart Narendra Singh Tomar during his visit in July.

Since July 11, 2023, the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF) has sold around 9, 38,682 kg of tomatoes at discounted rates in Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. About ten tonnes of tomatoes were imported from Nepal en route to Uttar Pradesh for distribution at a subsidized rate of Rs 70 per kg, NCCF managing director Anice Joseph Chandra said on August 11, 2023.