Bumper tomato harvest turns bitter for AP farmers as prices crash

Vijayawada: What should have been a season of prosperity turned into one of despair for tomato farmers across Andhra Pradesh. A bumper harvest, once seen as a blessing, triggered a steep price crash, pushing growers into mounting losses and deep uncertainty.Large-scale cultivation in Chittoor and Madanapalle, along with heavy arrivals from Krishna, NTR, Guntur and West Godavari districts, flooded local markets. The sudden glut pulled prices down to alarming levels. Farmers, who invested up to ₹40,000 per acre — with total tomato cultivation costs reaching nearly ₹65,000 per acre, including pesticides, fertilisers and labour — are now struggling to recover even half their investment.
Though yields were encouraging at 15 to 20 tonnes per acre, market returns were devastating. A 25 kg crate of tomatoes is fetching barely ₹200, translating to less than ₹10 per kg at the farm gate. Many farmers are reluctant to harvest their crop, fearing further losses due to labour and transport costs."Tomato cultivation became a loss-making venture this year," said Pulluru Subba Reddy, a farmer from Reddy Gudem in NTR district. "Pest attacks were severe, and we spent heavily on pesticides. A series of cyclones in 2025 damaged the crop. Despite all this, we managed a good yield. But prices collapsed so badly that we can't recover even 50 percent of our investment."The distress is not limited to tomatoes. Bottle gourd is being sold at ₹6 per kg and okra at ₹20 per kg, while retail prices in towns remain nearly double. "There is a huge gap between what we get and what consumers pay," said Kumara Swamy from Nandigama, blaming bulk arrivals and a lack of direct marketing avenues.With no remunerative price in sight, many farmers are selling vegetables by the roadside to cut losses — a stark reminder that, for growers, abundance without market support can be devastating.