MP farmers hit hard by drop in tomato price at wholesale markets

Indore, Mar 24 (PTI) Tomato cultivators in Madhya Pradesh are facing losses as the wholesale price of the kitchen staple has dropped to Rs 2 per kg due to the bumper arrival of the new crop in the markets.
    Farmers' organisations have demanded that the state government immediately take appropriate steps to protect the interests of cultivators.
    Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar fruit and vegetable market is one of the largest wholesale markets in the state.
    Talking to PTI on Monday, Dheeraj Raikwar, a farmer who arrived at the market from Khandwa district, about 130 km away, said, "The wholesale price of tomatoes has fallen to Rs 2 per kg. At this price, we won't be able to recover even the harvest cost."
    He claimed that some farmers were forced to throw away the unsold consignment of tomatoes in the market.
    "As tomatoes fetched a good price last year, farmers decided to go for large-scale cultivation. This time, due to bumper production, there is a huge inflow of tomatoes in the market, causing the prices to drop," Raikwar said.
    Dinesh Muvel, a farmer from the neighbouring Dhar district, said he had taken a loan of Rs 2 lakh to cultivate tomatoes on two acres, and he has now incurred losses due to the fallen prices.
    Ram Swaroop Mantri, convener of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha in the Malwa-Nimar region of western Madhya Pradesh, demanded the state government buy tomatoes from farmers at a reasonable price to prevent losses.
    "The morcha has been demanding a minimum support price for vegetables, but the government has not paid any heed," he said.
    Bharatiya Kisan-Mazdoor Sena president Bablu Jadhav said there is a lack of cold storage and processing facilities for perishable crops like tomatoes in remote areas of the state, due to which farmers are forced to sell their crops at throwaway prices.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)