With nearly 20,000 hectares under tomato cultivation and an annual yield of over 10 lakh tonnes over the three seasons of rabi, kharif and summer, Kolar district is among the major tomato-growing regions in the country. Six to seven lakh tonnes of tomatoes arrive from across the district at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee in Kolar town every day. Tomatoes from Kolar cater to the needs of most north Indian states, as well as neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of Nepal. The peak season – from June to September – sees many traders from north India pitching camps in Kolar. While scores of traders from across the country prefer to stay in hotels, a few have even rented small houses and have been living in the town for the past few years. Tomato trader SC Babu from Kolkata, who would visit Kolar during the peak season, began residing in the town 12 years ago, after farmers began growing the fruit round the year. He said north Indians prefer tomatoes grown in Kolar district because of their taste. Babu said he supplies the crop to a few dealers under him, who in turn send them to sub-dealers who then meet the demands of wholesale markets. Babu said he sends two to three truckloads of tomato every day to Kolkata. Vinod Bhai, also from Kolkata, has been living in Kolar for 10 years now and has about four traders under him. He sends tomatoes to Kolkata every day. Vinod gets calls from his dealers specifying their requirement and the quality. The dealers supply the transported stock to big hotels and other eateries in Kolkata. A tomato crop is ready in 7-8 weeks and harvesting goes on for nearly two months. If the yield is good, harvesting can go up to ten to twelve cycles, said farmer representatives. CR Srinath of CMR Tomato Mandi said that on average, 4,000 tonnes of tomatoes arrive at the APMC daily but the demand is for 15,000 tonnes. He said Kolar farmers have of late begun growing tomatoes round the year and the crop isn’t confined to three-four months. Vijayalakashi, secretary, APMC, Kolar said there is a fall in tomato stocks arriving at Kolar APMC but the demand is rising by the day, pushing up prices. She expects the same trend to continue for another couple of weeks before the situation eases as more of the crop is expected to be ready for harvesting across Kolar district.