Surplus production hits tomato growers badly

Tirupati: The farmers in the Madanapalle division are again at the receiving end due to the glut in tomato production and the stoppage of the purchase of produce by the traders from outside including from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu compounded the problems of the Chittoor farmers.

The farmers who were able to get Rs 40-50 per kg till January last week, are now crestfallen as the price plummeted to just Rs 3-4 per kg now. For various reasons, the tomato price has suddenly gone down steeply badly hitting the farmers in the division. Foremost factors among various reasons that caused severe loss to Chittoor district farmers was that farmers from other areas including Anantapur in the State and the Mulabagal and Chintamani districts in Karnataka which are known as tomato belts invading the local market and supplying their produce in Chittoor district.

Thus, it was a double whammy for the Madanapalle farmers who are the tradition tomato growers with others making inroads into the local market even as the outside traders stopped purchasing the produce from them. Another significant reason for rates of tomato coming down to the lowest level was the increase in the crop area in the district.

The unprecedented rains in the mandals in the division last year in November and December saw the tomato crop area increasing substantially with more farmers taking to tomato crop. According to unconfirmed reports, the crop was taken up in about one lakh acres this year against the normal area of 30,000 to 40,000 acres, following heavy rains in a majority of the total 32 mandals in the crop belt of Madanapalle division.

The crop in the area where it was taken up in November last week was now ready for harvest while many places the reaped crop started arriving in the market resulting in the glut in the crop. Masthan, a tomato trader, who is supplying to other States, said traders from other States stopped coming here as the farmers of Maharashtra, Odisha besides Karnataka and Tamil Nadu adopted the crop and started supplying to them. Besides, the markets in major cities in the State including Vijayawada, Guntur etc. were shut down, as the local farmers were supplying their produce.

He said the only way out is setting up of pulp industries either by the State government or by the private entrepreneurs in Madanapalle. “We have been demanding that the government should set up processing units in Madanapalle where sufficient place is available in the local agriculture market committee yard or at least promote some private industries to set up pulp factory. During the season, the farmers can supply their produce to processing units at a remunerative price,” he explained.

It is high time that the government instead of making empty promises, should act to set up pulp industries which is a viable alternative to stabilise the tomato price for the benefit of the farmers, he averred. Meanwhile, according to official sources, the prevailing rate (minimum price) in Madanapalle market yard for first quality tomato per 10 kg was pegged at Rs 38.64 and the second quality at Rs 28.43 on Tuesday. In all, 214 tonnes of tomatoes arrived in the market.