Farmers in Nashik and Aurangabad dropped tomatoes on the road as wholesale market prices fell. Tomatoes cost between Rs 2-3 per kilogramme in the wholesale market and Rs 25-30 per kilogramme in the retail market. Prices have dropped to their lowest point in three years.
Farmers from Nashik and Haryana protested at the Lasur station, bringing tomatoes in tractor-trolleys and demanding better procurement rates from wholesalers. They said that dumping the produce was a better alternative as the selling prices were insufficient to pay transportation costs.
According to officials, wholesale prices have plummeted as a result of a huge increase in supply compared to the country’s slow demand. As per APMC data, the wholesale price of tomatoes in Maharashtra in August was 750.63 per quintal, down from 2,037.77 per quintal in July.
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Reports say that almost 10 lakh farmers plant tomatoes in Nashik district, accounting for nearly 20% of the country’s production. Tomatoes are shipped from this market to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Haryana.
In August, farmers in Maharashtra’s Nashik (Pimpalgaon market) sold the vegetables for Rs 664.19 per quintal. The vegetable costs roughly Rs 5-10 per kilogramme in Pune’s wholesale market.
According to Nashik APMC secretary Arun Kale, the quantity of tomatoes in the market has risen from 20,000 crates (20 kg per crate) to 47,000 crates per day, even though demand has been low.
Media reports stated that roughly 50,000 crates of tomatoes were produced in the ‘mandis’ in Nashik every day in August 2020 and the figure has climbed to around 2.75 lakh crates per day this year.
Tomato growers had reported high profits in 2020, despite the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, with the vegetable trading above Rs 20/kg for the majority of the year.
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