COIMBATORE: The price of tomatoes has gone down to Rs 6 per kg from Rs 150 per kg in two months in the wholesale market and Rs 10 in the retail market in Coimbatore. According to sources, the increasing arrival of produce to the market has reached up to 200 tonnes per day in the district, which is one of the main reasons for the dropping of prices. Due to this, many farmers stopped harvesting matured tomatoes.
KR Sadhasivam, a farmer who has cultivated tomatoes on his farm in Kuppanur in Perur Taluk, said, “The input cost for tomato cultivation in an acre comes up to Rs 1.20 lakh. We got a yield of 15 boxes (15 kg per box) in three acres of land, when the price stood above Rs 150 per kg. Now, we harvest up to 50 boxes from the same field as climatic conditions support the yield. However, the price has dropped down in the market.”
“To pluck tomato from the crop, we spend Rs 350 wage to per labour, Rs 10 per box to transport to market and Rs 8 as commission to mandi against Rs 100. On Sunday, the rate for a box stood at Rs 90. We didn’t get any profit after taking the harvested produce to the market,” he said. He said that he made an attempt with the support of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to make value-added products when price plummeted but faced loss and dropped after it.
P Marison, a wholesale commission mandi agent in MGR market in Saibaba Colony in Coimbatore said, “In recent days, the market receives up to 2 lakh kg per day, which is a huge surplus for the market. But, there are no buyers for the produce now.”
V Geethalakshmi, Vice Chancellor of TNAU, said as more number of farmers have accommodated the crop after the price hike in July and August, the price of the tomatoes came down. “We announce forecasts through our Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell about the price of produce three months before based on analysis. However, farmers cultivate crops based on the market conditions of previous months which resulted in plummeting of price. We urge farmers to act on our forecast before cultivating any crops,” she said.