Tomato prices up, but farmers still in the red

Middlemen laughing all the way to the bank

The sudden rise in the price is attributed to pre-monsoon showers in Mysore and surrounding areas.  Tomatoes have to be harvested before rain or they rot. The prices will go up further in the coming days as the harvesting is almost complete in most of the places.

A few days ago, farmers were in the red as the price of tomato had touched rock bottom. Besides, there were no buyers in the market as it was flooded with the red vegetable.
Many farmers left the tomatoes to rot in the fields as they found that they won’t get even the cost of transportation if they take the stock to the market. The people also were not buying the commodity even when it was sold at Rs 2.50 per kg. Mounds of tomatoes were discarded in the wholesale vegetable market for cattle to feed on them.

However, this scenario has changed within three days. Now, it is being sold at Rs 10 per kg for ‘jam’ variety and Rs 8 to Rs 9 per kg for the local variety. The price is a little higher in shopping malls. Those who were buying two to four kg of tomato last week, are now buying just half a kg. The buyers are surprised as to how the price of tomato shot up within three days. They were equally shocked when they learnt that the price is likely to go up further in another 10 to 15 days.

A trader told Deccan Herald that the prices of agricultural commodities are always fluctuating and highly unpredictable like the climate. Farmers would have felt happy had they got at least Rs four to five per kg when the prices had crashed to Rs 2.50 a kg.  But now, they can no longer feel happy as the harvesting is over in almost all the places. Only some private farms that have good number of plants will make money.

In the absence of cold storage facility, farmers have to sell the perishable commodity within 24 hours of harvesting, failing which it will result in a loss for them. Most of them resort to panic selling and incur heavy loss. That was what happened a few days ago.

An officer of the Department of Horticulture told Deccan Herald that the tomato season is coming to an end and so naturally the prices have jacked up in the market. The tomatoes grown in farm houses are yet to arrive in the market and the rate will be high because of the short supply.

Narasegowda, a farmer near Mandakalli is cursing his fate. He had sold tomatoes grown on his one-and-a-half acre field for throwaway prices just 10 days ago. Now, the rate has shot up to Rs 10 per kg.

“This is not the first time it is happening. The price falls when there is a glut of any fruit or vegetable and the rate shoots up in case of scarcity in the market. Ultimately, it is middlemen who get the profit and not farmers.”