Kurnool tomato farmers in distress

Farmers let cattle trample their crop after losing hope on getting profit

It is a regular cycle every year where farmers in Kurnool suffer huge losses on account of slump in prices during the peak season. File photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

Tomato farmers in Aspari and Pathikonda are in deep distress once again. It has been a cycle every year that farmers suffer huge losses on account of slump in prices during the peak season.

Farmers in Aspari, Pathikonda, Aluru, Adoni, Tuggali and Devanakonda areas grow tomato in a large extent as it has been the only cash crop wherein farmers get money immediately. The growers get decent price in the beginning of the season when the crop is exported to Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and other areas. The rain-fed crop which has longer shelf-life is preferred by the consumers.

Prices dip to Rs.35

However, on Saturday and Sunday, the prices dipped to Rs.35 per kg. The farmers groused that they spent nearly Rs.25 on picking of fruit and another Rs.10 on transport to the market.

No returns

The transaction left no returns for them. A farmer, Urukundu, said they continued farming despite the losses with the hope that some day the prices might regain. Some farmers let the cattle trample the crop losing hopes of gaining profit. The popular demand for processing the tomato remained unattended due to marketing problems. The idea of pulp extraction was debated with entrepreneurs, but was found to be unviable.