As the try season scales, prices of Tomatoes in the market
have gone high. A single tomato in local markets goes for Kshs.10, as traders
sell three at Kshs.20.
Farmers have every reason to smile even as try whether
conditions reduce the supply of tomatoes, thus increasing prices.
However, Mr. Agriculture –Rodgers Kirwa –who is an award
winning farmer and CEO at iAgribizAfrica, has a message to tomato farmers.
Through his twitter handle, @rodgers_kirwa, he warns farmers
about the prevailing market conditions, urging them to evaluate the market
before planting more tomatoes at this try-weather condition.
He twits, “Do not plant Tomatoes this season because of the
good prices that we have in the market right now. Do your market research first?”
Prices of Tomatoes usually go high during dry weather
conditions, and farmers reap high due to high demand in the market.
In March 2019, price for tomatoes increased 7.44 per cent
from Sh44.32 to Sh47.30 per kilo according to indices report by Consumer Price
Kenya.
The demand for Tomatoes in the Kenyan market are usually
high, superseding the supply.
Kenya produces an average of 283,000 tonnes of tomatoes
annually against a demand of 300,000 tonnes, resulting to an importation need
of up to 27,000 tonnes.
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