🥕 Tomatoes almost doubled at my Mehdipatnam vendor this week

Went to my usual vegetable man near Mehdipatnam on Sunday and nearly walked away without buying anything. Tomatoes were almost double what I paid 2 weeks ago. I picked up a kilo, put half back. The leafy greens were so expensive I skipped them completely, which I've never done before in 2 years. He's a decent man, I've bought from him for years, so I didn't want to argue with him. He said supply from the wholesale market has been tight and blamed the weather out in the districts. When I asked which crop or which district, he got vague. I don't think he knows exactly either. What bothered me was how fast it happened. Prices were steady for 2 months and then jumped within 1 week. I called a friend who shops on the other side of the city and she said the same thing. So it's not just my vendor trying his luck. That was the first thing I wondered, I'll admit. My monthly grocery money doesn't stretch, so now I'm buying fewer things and cooking the same 3 dishes. Dal and rice with a little vegetable on the side. My mother in law noticed and said nothing. She just quietly bought 2 kilos of potatoes on her way home from the temple. Is anyone else seeing this at their market this week, or is it only our side of the city? And how long does this usually last? I'd like to know whether to plan for 1 week or 1 month. I've stopped looking at the tomato price and started looking at my cart instead. Next week I'll try the Sunday market near the old city and compare.

Last time this happened in my area it took around 3 or 4 weeks to settle down. It never went all the way back to the old price.

Most of us are cutting back, I think. I'm buying whatever hasn't gone up, mostly potatoes and onions. It works for a few days and then my sister starts complaining that we've had potato 4 days in a row. I don't have a clever answer. A bigger stock of dal and rice helps more than any trick. I also stopped going on the days when everyone shops, because the prices seem worse then.

My vendor gave me a different reason. He said trucks are taking longer routes because of road work somewhere. So maybe it's both, weather and transport. Either way, I'm the one paying at the end of the chain. What I can't tell is whether this is temporary. Last year something similar happened and I never saw the old price again. Now I can't even remember what tomatoes used to cost, and that's the scary part.

Same near Tolichowki. Tomatoes nearly doubled and I put the bag back twice before buying a small amount. What I noticed is that onions didn't move at all. So it doesn't feel like everything went up together. It felt like 1 crop had a bad week and the rest followed along nervously. My vendor blamed the weather too. I bought half my usual tomatoes and made the curry with a bit more curd instead.