BENGALURU: The steep rise in the prices of tomatoes is forcing farmers in Karnataka to guard their crops in their farmlands as robbers are out to steal the costly edible berry.
Tomato prices have crossed Rs 100 and they are even sold for Rs 150 per kilogram.
The farmers are forced to sleep at their farms and take turns guarding the crop ready to be harvested. The reason is that a farmer allegedly lost Rs 3 lakh worth of tomatoes to robbers this month. A farmer belonging to Goni Somanahalli village near Halebeedu town in Hassan has lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. The complainant has been identified as Dharani aka Somashekar. The incident was reported on July 6.
Police explained that the thieves have taken away 90 boxes of tomatoes worth Rs 3 lakh. The price of first-quality tomatoes has crossed Rs 150. The tomato was grown on two acres of land.
"I have been growing tomatoes for seven to eight years. I never got a good price for the crop. This year the harvest was good so as well the price. I thought of clearing my loans but the incident had ruined my happiness," Dharani said.
The farmers explain that they are putting up tents on their farmland to monitor the movement of people and vehicles.
They state that they need to be more vigilant in the wee hours.
One box of tomatoes fetches somewhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000. The farmers who have reaped a good harvest stand to gain.