Southern States - Karnataka   

Tomatoes being sold at Re.1 a kg.

By Our Staff Correspondent

Belgaum Jan. 6. Growers in Belgaum, the home district of the Minister for Agriculture, V.S. Koujalgi, are resorting to distress sale of tomato owing to a bumper harvest leading to a steep fall in the price of the produce. The vegetable markets in the city are flooded with tomatoes. The prices have fallen to a record low. The best quality tomato is now available in retail for just Rs. 2 a kg.. A bag of 10 kg. of tomatoes can be bought for just Rs.10. Poor quality tomatoes are available at Re.1 a kg..

According to Lingaraj Patil, President, Bharat Krishik Samaj district unit, more than 50 truckloads of tomatoes were coming daily to the wholesale vegetable markets in the city, mainly from Ghataprabha. Loads of tomatoes in bullock carts and other private carriers were also filling the market. Although transportation of the produce to Goa, Mumbai and Hyderabad is taking place, there is a glut in the market.

This is not the first time that this is happening in the city. The prices of tomato touch as low as Rs.2 a kg. during the peak season. The situation this year is worse with the retail price falling to Re.1 a kg.. If the stocks are not sold out by evening, the price is brought down further. There is none to look into the problems faced by the growers.

The State Government had set up a revolving fund for market intervention to prevent farmers from resorting to distress sale. But they are yet to get any help from the Government.

Mr. Patil told The Hindu that the samaj had been requesting the Government to set up a tomato processing plant on its own or in the cooperative sector. Tomato was a vegetable grown in huge quantities in the district with the major growing areas being the Malaprabha and Ghataprabha river belts.

He said there were hopes of the Government considering the plea after Mr. Koujalgi became the Agriculture Minister. Several farmers were shifting from cultivation of sugarcane to short-term crops such as vegetables. Vegetable crops, including tomato, could be harvested three or four times a year. The vegetable seeds available in the district were of good quality and the fertile soil conditions encouraged many farmers to take up tomato cultivation. This had resulted in surplus production.

He said the National Dairy Development Board had established a vegetable market in Bangalore which had tomato processing units. But similar requirements of the growers in Belgaum had been ignored. It was time the Government paid attention to the problem.

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