- Prices drop badly hits the farmers’ life
- More than 25,000 hectares crop abandoned in the fields by the farmers
- A grade tomato price KG only 50 paise at designated markets
- Long pending pulp making units proposals has not been materialised
(TOT Bureau)
Tirupati, November 18:
Again price downfall of the tomato market badly hits the farmers’ life in the Rayalaseema Districts. It may be noted that tomato crop was the predominant crop in the Annamayya , Chittoor , SathyaSai , Anantapur and Kurnool districts. More than 50,000 hectares of tomato crop was ready for harvesting among the five districts. In some places farmers have plucked and transported the tomato loads to local designated markets like Madanapalli, Kadiri and PattiKonda, where market agents were involved and very low prices were fixed.
In the meantime farmers are not getting minimum support price (MSP) to tomato crop. Came to know that for the last one week market slump has been going on in Madanapalli ,Kadiri and Pattikonda markets. In the designated markets also due to surplus yielding in this season and sowing of tomato crop on a large scale led to market slump again.
At many places tomato crop was dumped on roads and many places were seen farmers abandoning tomato crop in the fields without plucking, because they are not getting back money for labour charges. In bad situations farmers were going to their villages with empty hands.
At the same time tomato prices in Tirupati, Chennai, Vijayawada market are also not high. Previously three months ago tomato prices touched the KG at Rs 50 to 60. Now the same prices came down as Kg at Rs 10. Many vendors are selling tomatoes in Tirupati market 7 kgs for Rs 100. The same situation was continuing for the last two weeks. People were seen buying tomatoes at mini trucks in bulk in view of the fall of the prices.
Regarding the tomato market prices down fall , speaking to TOT Bureau, Annamayya District Collector PS Girisha IAS said that “ farmers had sown tomato crops on a large scale in view of their last year experience in the same season, during that time they got high prices for tomato and received profits. Whereas this time excess tomato sowing led to prices downfall. However , we instructed horticulture and marketing departments to take necessary steps to provide supporting prices to tomato crop”.
