New Delhi CNN —From butter chicken to paneer makhani, Indian cuisine is unthinkable without the ubiquitous tomato. Asha, a homemaker in the capital who asked to be referred to only by her first name, told CNN the increase has hit her seven-member family hard. Some of McDonald’s (MCD) restaurants across the country have temporarily stopped serving tomatoes on their burgers, citing quality issues and shortages of supply. Of the tomatoes that were harvested, over 90% were infected by seed-born viruses, Gadve told CNN, which further exacerbated the supply shortage. Devinder Sharma, an India-based agriculture policy expert, told CNN the current shortage was also caused in part by farmers throwing away their tomatoes because no one was buying them.

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Persons: Asha, “, Raghav Chadha, ” Chadha, Jocelyn Boiteau, Boiteau, Sriram Gadve, ”, Gadve, Devinder Sharma, Sharma, ” Gadve Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Department of Consumer Affairs, CNN, Connaught, Restaurants, Aam Aadmi Party, Twitter, Tata, Cornell Institute for Agriculture, Nutrition, University of Cambridge, Vegetable Growers Association Locations: New Delhi, India, Asia, heatwaves, India’s