In Papili, farmers were seen throwing away tomatoes for cattle to feast on as the price offered was not enough to meet transportation costs.
In the Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, the wholesale price of poor-quality tomatoes has crashed to a low of ₹6 per kg. (Representational image/Creative Commons)
The roller-coaster movement of the price of tomatoes never ceases to surprise farmers and consumers.
In the Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, the wholesale price of poor-quality tomatoes has crashed to a low of ₹6 per kg.
Meanwhile, the price of medium-quality tomatoes was ₹9 a kg, and that of good-quality tomatoes was ₹12 on Thursday, 6 September.
The price at which consumers bought tomatoes in several markets in the district ranged between ₹15 and ₹25 per kg.
In Papili in the district, the farmers were seen throwing away tomatoes for cattle to feast on as the price offered for them was not enough to meet even transportation expenses.
Tomato prices touched a high of ₹120 when there was an acute scarcity across the country. The retail price went up to ₹160.
Goats eating tomatoes discarded by farmers on the road. (Screengrab)
According to Srinivas, secretary of the Pattikonda Tomato Wholesale Market, the largest in the district, the arrivals have been slowly increasing, resulting in the fall of the prices.
On Thursday, the prices paid to farmers were ₹600 (low quality), ₹900 (medium quality), and ₹1,200 (good quality) per quintal.
The arrivals were about 300 quintals at the Pattikonda Market on Thursday, and might go up to 500 quintals.
Most of the tomatoes from Pattikonda are sent to Hyderabad, besides other districts in Andhra Pradesh.
Tomatoes are grown in about 6,000 hectares mostly in Aluru, Aspari, Papili, and Pattikonda during the monsoon season.
The plants take about three months to grow before beginning to yield tomatoes for about one and a half months. The farmers get about six pickings during this period.
As tomatoes are highly perishable, it was always a gamble for farmers to get the right price.
Usually, tomatoes do not last more than six days. Farmers have to do the picking at the farm and take the tomatoes to the wholesale market, and from there, exporters have to pack them and send them to bigger cities during this small window.
“It is like hitting a jackpot for the farmer. Either he would become a millionaire overnight as happened in the recent past, or lose all your investment,” one official said.
It takes up to four-five days for the tomatoes to reach the retail market, and the entire produce has to be purchased by the consumers in a day or two, or it begins rotting.
As it is a chain reaction, any glut at the retail end slows down the purchase of tomatoes at the wholesale market, which leads to the crashing of the price.
The arrivals dwindle from February, which results in a shooting up of the prices at the consumer end, and when the monsoon begins, the arrivals begin.
In the March-August window, tomatoes are grown under borewells, and due to the heat, the yield would be less, officials said.
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