From Rs 200/kg to Rs 2/kg: Tomato prices fall amid bumper crop, farmers demand...

Tomato prices have seen a massive fall after crossing over Rs 200/kg last till about last month. Now, with bumper produce, farmers in Maharashtra are being forced to destroy their produce as prices have fallen to  Rs 3-5 per kg.

“Minimum support price for tomatoes and onions is the only way to prevent such market fluctuations,” ToI quoted Nashik farmer Sachin Holkar as saying. Some farmers who managed to sell their produce, couldn't even recover half their costs. They had to sell at a throwaway price of Rs 2/kg. A farmer needs a a capital of Rs 2 lakh to grow tomato on a one-acre land.

Tomato prices have fallen to Rs 5 per kg at the wholesale market in Pune. Average wholesale prices of tomatoes in the three wholesale markets of Pipalgaon, Nashik and Lasalgaon have fallen from Rs 2,000 per crate (20 kg) to Rs 90 in the last six weeks.

Tomatoes are being sold in retail markets in Kolhapur at Rs 2 to 3 per kg. It was around Rs 220 per kg about a month ago. Farmers in Junnar and Ambegaon tehsils of Pune district have stopped tomato cultivation as the prices fell in wholesale markets in the last few weeks.

Around 2 lakh crates of tomatoes are being auctioned every day at Pimpalgaon APMC, Maharashtra's largest wholesale tomato market. According to data provided by the state agriculture department, the average area of tomato cultivation in Nashik district is around 17,000 hectares with a production of 6 lakh metric tonnes, but this year tomato cultivation doubled to 35,000 hectares with an estimated production of 12.17 lakh metric tonnes. In July, when wholesale prices reached Rs 3,200 per crate in Narayangaon market in Pune district, many farmers started cultivating tomatoes in the hope of windfall profits.