Tomatoes form an important ingredient of cooking. Cooking seems incomplete without tomatoes, be it for preparing Goan dishes or for that matter any type of cooking. Tomatoes are botanically defined as fruits because they form from a flower and contain seeds. Still, they're most often utilized like a vegetable in cooking. However, of late, the price of tomatoes has shot up in Goa. While it was recently available for Rs 40 per kg, now the price of this important cooking ingredient has reportedly shot to between Rs 60 to 80 per kg. It is learnt that intense humidity and pre-monsoon rainfall have hit the crop in the neighbouring states. The transportation charges have also increased reportedly due to the temporary closure of the Chorla Ghat as most of the vegetables and fruits come to Goa from neighbouring Belagavi. Poor people will find it difficult to buy the much needed tomatoes. The Goa Horticulture Department needs to make tomatoes available to the people at a reduced price through its outlets in order to offset the current price hike.
