With price slump, farmers cease harvesting tomatoes

By Our Correspondent,Sarlahi, Feb. 13: Tomatoes grown by farmers in Sarlahi district in Madhes Province are rotting in the field as plummeting prices leave them unable to sell their produce. Frustrated by low returns, many farmers have stopped harvesting tomatoes altogether.

Farmers complained that they are being forced to sell tomatoes for as little as Rs. 6 to Rs. 8 per kilo. 

Chamar Singh Lopchan, a farmer from Patouna in Harion Municipality-1, expressed his distress, and said, "Those who harvested early got a fair price, but for those of us harvesting later, selling tomatoes has become nearly impossible. There is no demand in the market even when they are fully ripened."

The situation has worsened to the point where farmers are paying Rs. 50 per create just for picking the tomatoes while they could get only Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 per crate in the market. Vishnu Bamjan, a farmer from Titrigachhi, Harion-1, has abandoned harvesting after failing to secure a reasonable price for tomatoes grown on two katthas of land. 

"I have started letting my goats graze on the tomatoes in the field instead," said Bamjan. 

With the cold waves coming to an and clearing of the fog and good sunshine happening at once, all the tomatoes ripen at once flooding the market with the product. 

Ranju Devi Mahato, a farmer from Atrauli, Sarlahi, who rents land at Rs. 4,000 per kattha for six months, is deeply worried about paying her rent. She said that after paying Rs. 50 per crate for labourer and Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 per crate in transport cost, she is left with little to no profit. "We have no choice but to accept whatever price the traders offer. Whatever sells, sells, and the rest just rots in the field," she said. 

Sarlahi’s northern region is a hub for commercial tomato farming. Farmers from this region take their produce to markets in Tinghare, Nawalpur, and Lalbandi. 

However, Toran Bahadur Magar, Chairperson of the Agricultural Wholesale Market Management Committee in Lalbandi, said that excess production has led to the price crash. "This is the peak mid-season for tomato production," he explained. "With such a large supply flooding the market, farmers are struggling to get fair prices."

Despite the price slump, the Agricultural Wholesale Market Management Committee informed that 10 to 12 truckloads of tomatoes are still being transported daily from Sarlahi to Kathmandu and other major markets across Nepal.