Tomatoes being sold for a song

KURNOOL: A kilogram of tomatoes for 50 paise. Sounds unbelievable when the state is facing a severe drought, but tomato growers in this district are willing to sell their produce for even less than 50 paise per kg, provided they have a guaranteed buyer.Faced with good yield and no marketing facilities, farmers in Aluru and Pathikonda areas are selling their produce for a song.In some places, the tomato growers are feeding their produce to buffaloes and cows, apprehending that they would not even get transport cost.The district administration announced a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1.50 per kg for tomato, but traders are not coming forward to lift the product at the MSP. The farmers are not in a position to transport their produce to markets in nearby towns since there was no guarantee to sell their commodity.Tomato crop was sown in about 65,000 acres of dry land in Pathikonda and Aluru areas because of severe drought condition. This crop needs little water and an investment of Rs 3,000 to cultivate the vegetable in an acre. On an average, every acre yields three tonnes.In all, the total expenses per each kilogram of tomato was about one rupee and in the absence of remunerative prices, the growers are feeling let down. Farmers say due to prolonged dry spell, the yield too was reduced.Though the farmers are being the lowest rates, the traders are managing to sell tomato at prices ranging from Rs 2 to 5 in urban areas in the district. In the absence of any government intervention, the growers are left in the lurch.Farmers in villages like Aspari, where tomato has been cultivated in about 2,500 acres, are not collecting the produce from their fields because they fear that they may not even recover money spent on plucking tomatoes.When contacted, Kurnool joint collector M D Kishore said mandal-level committees were constituted to take necessary steps to help the farmers in getting MSP. He said the traders ought to pay Rs 1.50 per kg of tomato.Kishore said officials were given powers to register criminal cases against traders who refuse to pay MSP to farmers.