In a sharp reversal of fortune, tomato farmers across India are grappling with significant losses as prices have plunged from around Rs 200 per kilogram to as low as Rs 3-5 per kilogram within a month. The unexpected high yield of tomatoes has caught everyone involved in the sector off guard, leading to a drastic drop in prices and leaving farmers with few options but to abandon or destroy their crops, reported the Times of India on Tuesday.
In Maharashtra, one of the most affected states, tomato prices have fallen to as low as Rs 5 per kilogram in Pune and Rs 2-3 per kilogram in Kolhapur's retail markets. Farmers in Junnar and Ambegaon tehsils in Pune district have been abandoning their tomato plantations due to the price dip.
The situation is equally dire in Nashik where average wholesale tomato prices have plummeted from Rs 2,000 per crate (20 kilograms) to Rs 90 at the three wholesale mandis in Pimpalgaon, Nashik, and Lasalgaon. The largest wholesale tomato market in Maharashtra, Pimpalgaon APMC, is currently auctioning approximately 2 lakh crates of tomatoes daily.
Farmers' woes are not limited to Maharashtra. In various parts of India such as Chikkaballapur, Mandya, Koppal, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Haveri, farmers started cultivation of tomatoes on a large scale when prices jumped earlier this year. Now they are selling their produce at Rs 10 per kg and finding it difficult to recover their expenses and investment. Prices of tomatoes in Pune have come down to Rs 5 per kg.
The sudden increase in tomato production was triggered by a surge in prices earlier this year when some farmers managed to earn decently. One such example is Andhra Pradesh-based farmer Chandramouli who earned approximately Rs 4 crore in just 45 days by selling nearly 40,000 boxes of tomatoes. He had sowed a unique variety of tomato plant in the first week of April 2023 on his 22-acre farming land.
The government had also intervened when tomato prices surged, reducing the subsidized rate of tomatoes in July to Rs 80 per kg to provide relief to people from high prices. Now, consumers like Noida-based housewife Anamika Singh are pleasantly delighted with the crash in prices, able to buy tomatoes without any worry of high prices.
While consumers are benefiting from the price drop, farmers like Vivek Pati from Solapur district have taken drastic measures. Pati chose to destroy his entire tomato crop, cultivated on his one-and-a-half-acre plot, as the cost of harvesting and transporting the produce to the market would have resulted in even greater losses.
In response to this situation, a group of farmers from Junnar and Ambegaon tehsils have planned a protest in Mumbai. They are demanding the implementation of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for tomatoes to protect against price volatility. It remains uncertain how long tomato prices will remain at these low levels and what steps the government will take to protect farmers.
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