Tomato Price Story
The dashboard presents the monthly supply-demand dynamics underlying wholesale tomato price movements in India for FY2019–20 to FY2023–24. It is built around the Supply-Demand Ratio (SDR) derived from the All India Tomato Balance Sheet, which brings together production, market arrivals, post-harvest losses and estimated consumption demand. An SDR above one indicates surplus availability, while a value below one reflects relatively tighter supply conditions. The dashboard compares changes in tomato availability with movements in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), providing context on how periods of surplus and shortage correspond with price movements. It also places these movements against major market events across the study period. The analysis establishes SDR as the key market indicator and provides the basis for assessing interventions such as cold storage, Operation Greens and processing offtake.
Tomato Policy Simulator
The dashboard translates the tomato price framework into a policy decision-support tool. Using the validated SDR elasticity from the econometric model, it simulates how changes in effective market availability could influence wholesale tomato prices under alternative intervention scenarios. The dashboard focuses on Operation Greens, allowing users to vary the price-crash trigger threshold and examine the resulting frequency and expected price recovery. Lower thresholds represent earlier intervention, potentially providing greater protection against distress sales but requiring more frequent deployment of public resources; higher thresholds delay intervention but reduce the frequency of support. The simulations are intended to illustrate trade-offs rather than prescribe a single optimal threshold. Together with the broader framework, the tool can support assessment of Operation Greens alongside cold storage and processing offtake as different mechanisms for managing seasonal tomato surpluses.
