The steep fall in tomato prices has upset growers in Mysuru and Chamarajnagar areas. They are venting their frustration at not getting suitable price for the crop by throwing the produce away on the roadside.
The price has fallen to as low as ₹1 a kg in the wholesale market, forcing farmers to discard the produce instead of selling it to traders.
A few months ago, tomato was a pricey vegetable that had brought tears to buyers as a kg cost as much as ₹50-60. The price has made a big turnaround with the glut.
Some roadside vegetable vendors here on Saturday were selling 3 kg of tomato at ₹10 (1 kg costs ₹3).
With no minimum support price (MSP) for commodities like tomato that had been grown abundantly in the region, the growers, who were hoping to make it big this season, are in a state of worry.
A farmers’ producers’ company – Raitha Mitra – that operates in Mysuru, has come forward to buy tomato at MSP of ₹6 a kg though the market price is ₹1 a kg. The company has asked growers not to get upset over the price crash and bring the produce to its doorstep to get ₹6 a kg.
“Raitha Mitra has purchased over 20,000 kg of tomato from growers in last two weeks. The same produce was brought for ₹24 a kg a few weeks ago. This is the disturbing trend in the farm sector which the government needs to address to instil confidence among the farming community,” says Raitha Mitra founder and State Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Kurubur Shanthkumar.
He told The Hindu that some farmers dumped carts-full of tomato on the side of National Highway near Gundlupet as they were upset over the price crash at the Gundlupet APMC market. Such scenes will become a routine affair if the government does not intervene and comfort aggrieved farmers. “Imagine selling produce at ₹1 a kg after having spent so much of money on raising the crop,” he added.
Mr. Shanthkumar questioned, “What is preventing the government from announcing MSP when prices fall like Raitha Mitra had done for vegetables like tomato whose prices had hit the rock bottom?”
Other products
Raitha Mitra is buying vegetables such as Mangalore cucumber, sweet pumpkin and chilli, whose prices had also dropped, at the MSP. The price of Mangalore Southekayi had fallen to ₹3 a kg while pumpkin had fallen to ₹2 a kg, he said and added that the State government should explore taking up food processing projects such as converting farm-fresh tomatoes into sauces and other food products to safeguard growers.
The farmer leader cited the example of Safal Market in Bengaluru, a subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board, which had taken up such initiatives.
