Tomato price crashes after June peak on bumper harvest

Distressed farmers urge govt to extend production incentives and promote exports in order to ramp up prices

Faced with a sharp decline in prices, tomato farmers have urged the government to extend production incentives and promote exports to aid price increase and make farming the vegetable sustainable.

Selling at Rs 5-6 a kg across most of major growing states wholesale mandis, tomato price fell to Rs 3-3.50 a kg late last week on bumper production estimates and a sharp increase in its arrivals. The current prevailing price works out to sharply lower than its average cost of production of Rs 8 a kg in Maharashtra.

Distress farmers, however, are planning to approach to the government of Maharashtra seeking extension of incentives similar to onion farmers. Concerned with a free fall in prices, the government of Maharashtra has approved one rupee per kg of production incentives to onion farmers to help them improve realisation in case of price falling below cost of production.

"We have not received any demand from farmers. In fact, there is no need for such incentives as farmers do not share the profits with consumers in case price firms up. This is the case in every agriculture and horticulture commodities with production cycles," said a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra.

Tomato prices had skyrocketed to Rs 70-75 a kg on most wholesale mandis mid-June amid forecast of a delay in the monsoon rainfalls. In retail, tomato price was hovering around Rs 100 a kg. Today, tomato is selling in retail markets between Rs 10 and 20 a kg across the country depending upon the quantity of supply.

"Tomato farmers in deep distress as prices have fallen sharply below cost of production. To prevent farmers from shifting to other more remunerative crops and thereby a shortage in the next season, the government must extend production incentives and also promote exports in more aggressive manner," said Shri Ram Gadhave, President, Vegetables Grower Association of India.

India exports tomato in negligible quantity primarily to the Middle East. But, aggressive efforts could boost tomato exports to European and other developed countries in large quantity.

Interestingly, farmers brought a large area under kharif tomato ahead of the monsoon rainfalls to leverage sharp increase in its prices during sowing time. Consequently, tomato output is estimated to increase at least by 10-15 per cent this year, according to Gadhave. Near normal rainfall this monsoon season helped plant growth and yielded better output.

Data compiled by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) showed tomato output at over 16 million tonnes in the Second Advanced Estimate presented by the Ministry of Agriculture. From this level, however, tomato output is estimated at 18 million tonnes this year.

A sharp increase in output estimate was authenticated by a spurt in arrivals in major mandis. NHB data showed arrivals at 401 tonnes on August 30 as compared to 258 tonnes on June 16 in Ahmedabad mandi, the peak price period. Similarly, in Vashi Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) near Mumbai, tomato arrivals jumped by over 50 per cent since June 16 to 240 tonnes on Wednesday.

A senior Vashi APMC official hailed government's policy of delisting fruits and vegetables from APMC mandi as anti - farmer. "The government should have prevented implementation of such anti-farmer policy which pushed farmers in deep distress because of price fall," he added.