Angered by the drop in price, farmers, who brought their produce to the marketyard on Tuesday, picked up a fight with the traders and threw their produce onto the streets. “Today’s price will not even cover the expense incurred for transporting the tomatoes.
A 15-kg box is selling for Rs 5 or 6 as the demand for tomatoes has dropped,” said Devaraj, a farmer from Dwarasandra village.
The farmers blamed the government and the elected representatives for being indifferent towards their problems. “We are plagued by a sense of desolation. The government should soon announce support price for tomato and prevent us from further financial crisis,” said another farmer, Ravi.
A trader at the APMC marketyard, H Ravindra Reddy said: “Some farmers do not have the heart to leave their produce to rot in the fields, so they bring it here but there is none to buy it. They are hurt by this and they pick up fights with us.” He added that if the government announced the support price now, the farmers could get back at least a part of their investment.
Upset with the slump in the price, some of the farmers have left the tomatoes to rot on the field, while some have piled it by the side of the fields. However, while the farmers suffer the slump in price, the public are not benefited by it either as middlemen continue to make their cut. Vegetable vendors in the town are still selling tomatoes at Rs 8 to 10 a kg.