Hyderabad: Tomato farmers in Kurnool district are worried as they are being offered prices as low as Re 1 per kg by traders at market yards.
Tomato was sold for around Rs 100 per kg a few months back. However, traders at Pattikonda agricultural market are now quoting a price of just Re 1 per kg to the farmers who staged a protest over the issue at Kurnool on Thursday. The farmers said their yield has decreased due to pest attacks and now they are struggling due to low price of the vegetable. The farmers lay on the road at the market as a mark of protest.
They then blocked the Pattikonda-Gutti main road disrupting traffic. The farmers said traders at the market are not buying their produce citing poor quality. They said even good quality tomatoes are not fetching a decent price at the market due to which they are not even able to recover their transportation costs. The tomato farmers have urged the government to come to their rescue. An average of 1,000 quintal of tomato is sent to Pattikonda agricultural market daily.
Pattikonda Market Yard Secretary Karnolies said even as the price of tomato is fluctuating, it has not gone down drastically. He said traders quoted low price for poor quality tomatoes. Since the price of a quintal of tomatoes grown in gardens has touched Rs 1,800, it has impacted the quality of the vegetable grown on metta land.
