Amravati, October 5 (IANS) With a rapid fall with the price of tomatoes, tomato farmers in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh are throwing their produce on the roads.
The price in the Pathikonda wholesale market in Kurnool district reached Rs 1 per kg, causing a major setback to the farmers.
Tomato growers dumped their produce on the road and lodged their protest. As a result, traffic jam occurred on Gooty-Mantralayam Road.
The protesting farmers demanded that the government come to its rescue by ensuring remuneration prices. He demanded an immediate setting of tomato processing factory in the region.
Andhra Pradesh goes into tomato productivity with 41.22 tonnes per hectare in 62,000 hectares. The estimated tomato yield in the district is 22.17 lakh tonnes. In Quranool alone, tomato is cultivated at about 4,800 hectares, which is a yield of about 1,67,591 tonnes per year.
Every year tomatoes are produced during two sessions – August to October (Kharif) and December to April (Rabi).
Pathikonda wholesale market is the second largest tomato market in the state after Madanapalli in Chittoor district.
Since the market prices resulted in damage to the farmers of tomatoes in the Patikonda region, the state government decided to set up a tomato processing unit.
A government order was issued earlier this year, which was allocated Rs 11 crore for the tomato processing unit on 2.5 acres of land in Dudekoda.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu promised the plant during the election campaign last year.
Last month, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the TDP -led NDA government of gross neglect of farmers after the fall in onions and tomato prices in the state.
Jagan Mohan Reddy had commented that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu could not match the record crop prices to the rock-level level, they cannot be matched by anyone.
“In Quranool, onion is being sold for Rs 3 per kg and tomato at Rs 1.50 per kg. Is these prices to survive the farmers? Should the farmer not be alive?” He asked.
Saying that Tomato productive buyers were throwing their crops on the roads due to lack of buyers, Jagan Mohan Reddy demanded immediate government intervention.
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MS/PGH