Telangana's tomato farmers in a soup over dropping prices

It is a reflection on pathetic horticultural market intelligence in Telangana that despite knowing that tomato prices crash every August-September, farmers still were not stopped from plumping for the same fruit crop.

 

Farmers, after they saw tomato prices shooting up to ₹80 to 100 a kg in June, necessitating import of the produce from Rajasthan to Hyderabad markets, invested in growing the fruit. That harvest has now hit the market, when prices have crashed to ₹5 a kg, resulting in huge losses to the tomato growers.

 

“There has to be some way of coordination between different farmers to ensure all of them are not growing the same tomato, leading to a glut in the market. Everyone ends up losing money. Proper advice is needed to ensure diversity in crops,'' says Kiran Vissa, an agricultural expert. 

 

What is unfortunate is that in a state led by a chief minister who prides himself on being a farmer, there is not a word of sympathy for the tomato farmer who is choosing to throw away the tomatoes to feed the cattle instead of spending money on transport and selling it in the cities at a loss.

 

Depending on the acreage and the labour employed to pluck the produce, each tomato grower is losing anywhere between ₹50,000 and a lakh. 

 

Telangana only needs to look at its neighbour, Karnataka, as a model to emulate. For the last two years, the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission ensures an MSP for vegetables. “It ensures that the price of, say tomato will not go below ₹10 a kg. That way, the farmer also does not lose much and the consumer does not mind paying ₹15 a kg by the time it reaches the city,” says GV Ramanjaneyulu, agricultural scientist. 

 

Since tomato is a perishable commodity, it is difficult to store it unless there are good cold storage facilities. But again, most farmers cannot afford the tariff.

 

The cold storage unit owners charge between ₹3 to Rs 6 a kg per month for different vegetables and when the price of tomato is ₹5 in the market, it is a tough call for the farmer to take on how long he should store the produce.

 

The Telangana horticulture department has to answer questions on why no attempt was made to track how many acres were sown under tomato crop in June-July. Since tomato in a good year, can fetch excellent returns, there is temptation to plump for the crop.

 

But it is also a high risk crop because as farmers are realising now, when the price drops, they incur huge losses. 

 

The question that arises is when the government can go on an overdrive to woo farmers when they want their land for development, why can't the same government meet the farmers as part of the agricultural extension work?

 

As tomato growers land in a soup, the news coming from the market is that onion prices are set to crash next. The saga of tears will continue for the farmer.